Mixed Bag News When Tracking Foreclosures in the Midwest: Only California and Florida have surpassed Illinois in numbers of pre-foreclosures year-to-date.

Nationally, the persistent rise in defaults on subprime loans continues to fuel the surge in foreclosures. The foreclosure numbers news from the Midwest have recently been a mixed bag.

Pre-foreclosure filings for the region, which includes foreclosure-plagued Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), fell% to 8,182 in April from March, according to Foreclosures.com.

Total auction filings, the second step in the foreclosure process, climbed 17%, the company reported. But REOs, a reflection of the numbers of foreclosure that have been completed, dropped 19% for April to 11,177.

Year-to-date the picture was more dismal as compared with the same time a year ago. Region-wide in the Midwest, pre-foreclosure filings, 28,789, were up 87%; auction filings, 18,976, climbed 275%, and REOs, 47,196, were up 23% for the year, said Alexis McGee, president and co-founder of Foreclosures.com, a California-based real estate investment advisory firm and publisher of foreclosure and property information

"The region's manufacturing and farming economy just can't seem to shake the foreclosure grip," added McGee. "Layoffs and economic woes have left too many of the Midwest's homeowners overextended and without many options to losing their homes. Metropolitan areas like Chicago, Toledo and Cleveland in Ohio, Detroit; Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri, especially feel the pinch."

On a national basis, only the states of California and Florida have surpassed Illinois in numbers of pre-foreclosures year-to-date with 16,768 filings. On the better-news side, however, REO filings, 6,102 year-to-date, in Illinois were up just 8%, dropping the state to ninth place from sixth place in the numbers nationally, she said.

Cook County, Ill., saw 4,485 auction filings in April or 2.3 per capita, up 33% from 2006. The counties leading in numbers of REOs include, Wayne, MI with 3,709 filings or 4.8 capita, down 12% from a year ago. Cook County saw 3,523 filings or 1.8 per 1,000 households, up 20% from 2006. Cuyahoga, Ohio saw 3,267 filings or 5.7 per capita, up 80% over the same time a year earlier, according to foreclosures.com.