Foreclosure Activity Is On The Rise

A total of 33,270 residential properties carried foreclosure filings in January, according to new data from ATTOM. This marks a 10% increase from the prior month and a 5% increase from one year earlier.

Lenders repossessed 3,954 residential properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in January, up 13% from December for the first month-over-month uptick since July 2023. On a year-over-year basis, REOs were up by 1%. Monthly increases in foreclosure completions were recorded in 19 states, most notably Michigan (up 200%), Minnesota (up 47%), California (up 43%), Pennsylvania (up 36%) and Missouri (up 34%).

Lenders started the foreclosure process on 21,770 residential properties in January, up 6% from December and up 5% from January 2023. The states that saw the greatest number of foreclosures starts in January included California (2,719 foreclosure starts), Texas (2,613 foreclosure starts), Florida (2,330 foreclosure starts), New York (1,341 foreclosure starts) and Illinois (913 foreclosure starts).

“We observed a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, which may be partially attributed to the typical post-holiday progression of filings through the legal system,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “However, other external factors may be at play such as escalating interest rates, inflation, employment shifts and other market dynamics. We remain vigilant in monitoring these trends to understand their full impact on foreclosure activity.”