Foreclosure filings in Illinois jumped 18 percent from July to August, and that means the housing market still has a long slog ahead. The latest numbers from RealtyTrac show banks are starting to move ahead with foreclosures again. They had slowed down a lot last year and earlier this year to sort out problems related to sloppy paperwork and robo-signing of documents.

Ed Stuart, economics professor at Northeastern Illinois University, says foreclosures are becoming more normal and less stigmatized and that’s changing people’s behavior. “People are switching their focus to making sure their credit cards and auto payments are kept up and not their mortgages,” Stuart said.

In the Chicago area, the foreclosure crisis appears most severe in the collar counties. Kendall, Kane and McHenry counties had the highest foreclosure rates in the state.