Are Foreclosure Rates Up or Down?
The news concerning foreclosures/repossessions nationally is mixed. While in January 2025 (the latest stats available) foreclosure filings, default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions were up eight percent from the previous month but were down seven percent when compared to a year ago (January 2024) according to ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data and real estate analytics. Completed foreclosures were up in 30 states - 30,816 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – up 8 percent from the prior month but down 7 percent from a year ago.
“It’s too early to know if 2025 will shift from the general 2024 trends of a continued decline in foreclosure activity. We will keep a close eye on the market to see how interest rates, inflation, employment shifts, and other market dynamics impact foreclosures in 2025,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM.
In terms of actual repossessions, lenders repossessed almost 30,000 properties in January 2025, up just one percent from a month ago but down 25% from a year ago. In 11 of the last 12 months repossessions fell.
The states with the most foreclosure starts were Texas (2,654 foreclosure starts); California (2,443 foreclosure starts), Florida (1,898 foreclosure starts), Illinois (1,228 foreclosure starts), and New York (949 foreclosure starts).
Among major metropolitan statistical areas (population of 200.00 or more,) those with the most repossessions were (in order) Detroit, Chicago, Riverside California, NYC, and Philadelphia.
Nationwide one in every 4,618 housing units had a foreclosure filing in January 2025. States with the highest foreclosure rates per capita were Delaware (one in every 1,839 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Nevada (one in every 2,430 housing units); Indiana (one in every 2,459 housing units); Illinois (one in every 2,756 housing units); and Utah (one in every 3,251 housing units).
Those major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population greater than 200,000, with the highest foreclosure starts in January 2025 were Riverside, CA (one in every 1,786 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Elkhart, IN (one in every 1,821 housing units); South Bend, IN (one in every 1,821 housing units); Fresno, CA (one in every 1,859 housing units); and Indianapolis, IN (one in every 1,934 housing units), Las Vegas, NV (one in every 1,987 housing units); and Philadelphia, PA (one in every 2,042 housing units).
While foreclosure starts declined annually, significant increases occurred in the states of California, Florida, Illinois, and New York.
“January showed a monthly increase in foreclosure filings that may in some part be the result of a normal post-holiday catch up of filings,” said Rob Barbe. “It’s too early to know if 2025 will shift from the general 2024 trends of a continued decline in foreclosure activity. We will keep a close eye on the market to see how interest rates, inflation, employment shifts, and other market dynamics impact foreclosures in 2025.”