Chicago Foreclosure Volume Fouls Up Census

Empty houses are hard to survey, but that's the challenge facing census workers in the Chicago area, where foreclosures and vacancies are weighing down response rates. This isn't just a predicament for the U.S. Census Bureau, it's a problem for these communities and their residents. Each uncounted resident could cost Chicago $1,200 per year.

The latest figures from the Woodstock Institute show that there were 9,302 completed foreclosure auctions in the six-county Chicago region during the first quarter of 2010. That's up 56 percent from the same quarter a year ago, and up 79.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009.

This marked the most foreclosure auction activity in that area since the housing disaster began in 2006.