2010 foreclosures second-worst on record in Minnesota

The foreclosure crisis isn't getting any better. In fact, last year in Minnesota there were 25,673 foreclosure sales, an 11 percent increase over 2009 and the second-worst year on record, according to a new report from the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. More than half of those sales happened in the Twin Cities metro area, where sheriff's sales rose 9 percent. In greater Minnesota the number of sales was up 16 percent. Foreclosures have been a drag on the overall housing market, keeping prices down and leaving an overhang of hard-to-sell inventory. The situation was particularly bad in some of the northern collar communities, such as Sherburne County, which had the highest foreclosure rate statewide last year.