Home foreclosures are among the problems plaguing the economy, but DuPage County is set to receive $5.2 million in federal funding to purchase blighted, foreclosed homes and return them to the market.

The money is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The goal of the program is to help communities fend off blight that could potentially drag down property values.

County Board member Debra Olson, R-4th District, of Wheaton said the county is participating in the program as part of its ongoing effort to provide affordable housing.

“One of the priorities listed in our strategic plan is affordable workforce housing, and we are addressing this issue on a number of levels,” Olson said.

There are about 2,800 foreclosed homes in DuPage County and about the same number facing foreclosure, according to ReatlyTrac, a California-based company that tracks foreclosures nationwide. There were 603 foreclosure filings in September alone.

The HUD program is a five-year plan that will establish a system for purchasing and rehabilitating or redeveloping foreclosed and abandoned homes. It will also help fund the demolition of blighted structures and the development of demolished or vacant properties.

Under the program, properties must be purchased at an average of 15 percent less than market value. Any profits made from selling the properties will be funneled back into the program until 2013. At that point, the revenue generated will go back to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The program will also provide funding for housing counseling programs that will be provided by the DuPage Homeownership Center.

County Board member Kyle Gilgis, R-3rd District, of Downers Grove is chairwoman of the board’s Development Committee. She said the program will benefit towns throughout the county.

“I look forward to implementing this important program, which will have a positive effect on our communities,” Gilgis said.

Congress created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which President Bush signed July 30. It provides a total $3.9 billion in federal grants to every state and some local communities to purchase foreclosed homes to prevent blight.