Detroit Foreclosures Dropped In 2011, But Rate More Than 2.5 Times National Average (INFOGRAPHIC)

INFOGRAPHIC: Detroit Foreclosures Drop, But Not For Long

While 2011 showed a significant drop in the number of foreclosed properties, to the tune of 31 percent fewer filings in metro Detroit according to RealtyTrac data, the city's residents and housing market will still be shaken by foreclosures in the coming months.

According to the Associated Press, the decline in foreclosure filings, which occurred across the country, took place when banks put some foreclosures on hold as they dealt with abuse claims. But the numbers are expected to go back up after last month's $25 billion federal settlement against the largest mortgage lenders was reached.

"That wave of new foreclosures that we're seeing is going to translate into more short sale listings and more bank-owned listings in the next three to six months," Daren Blomquist, a vice president at the foreclosure-tracking company RealtyTrac told the Associated Press.

Although the Detroit real estate market has shown some signs of slow improvement, like more sales and increasing home prices from the year before, an increase in foreclosures could lower home prices in the coming year. Foreclosed homes in Detroit sell for, on average, just over $11,000, compared to a statewide average of $85,000, according to RealtyTrac. Nationally, price averages are nearly double Michigan's prices.

And the rate at which foreclosures are filed is much higher here than the national average -- one in 242 Detroit properties were foreclosed on in January alone, compared to one in 624 nationwide.

Foreclosure has remained a consistent problem in the city over the last several years, though it's now down from highs of five years ago, when nearly 5 percent of homes in the Detroit metro area entered some state of foreclosure.

See how foreclosures in your neighborhood compare to state rates with the infographic from RealtyTrac below:

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