reid compton / for the chicago tribune

Participants visit a home in Elgin during a foreclosure bus tour last fall.

Distressed home sales in Northern Illinois fell in 2012, totaling 46.7 percent of all homes sales—a 1.3 percent drop from the peak in 2011. This is the first decrease in the share of distressed home sales since they started rising 2008, according to a pretty nice infographic on Crain’s today.

How did your neighborhood fare last year? Within city limits, Riverdale had the highest percentage of distressed home sales with zero non-distressed sales. On the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln Park saw the lowest percentage, with distressed home sales accounting for a mere 11.3 percent of total home sales in the area. 

Harvey led the suburbs in the greatest share of distressed homes at 91.5 percent, while Winnetka had the smallest share. Only 8.0 percent of all home sales in the northern suburb were classified as distressed, reported Crain’s.

These numbers come on the heels of the new law Governor Quinn signed last month, which may speed up the process for banks to foreclose on homes. This law could potentially allow banks to wrap up the foreclosure process in a brief 90 days—compare that with a recent 697-day average to foreclose on Illinois homes in the fourth quarter, according to Crain's. It is unknown how many homes will fall under the purview of the new law, however.