According to a recent report by real estate data firm ATTOM, more than 65,000 properties began foreclosure proceedings in the first quarter of this year. That's up 3 per cent from the last quarter of 2022 and a 29 per cent jump from a year ago.
In March, one in every 3,813 homes received a foreclosure filing.
"Despite efforts by government agencies and policymakers to try to reduce the foreclosure rate, we are seeing an upward trend in foreclosure activity," ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in a statement." This unfortunate trend can be attributed to a variety of factors such as rising unemployment, foreclosure filings moving through the pipeline after two years of government intervention, and other ongoing economic challenges."
ATTOM has collected data on foreclosure filings in more than 3,000 counties, which represent more than 99 percent of the nation's population.
There is no reason to panic, at least not yet. foreclosure filings begin to rise in late 2021, after the end of the federal foreclosure ban. The moratorium was enacted in the early days of COVID-19, when millions of Americans lost their jobs, to prevent a tsunami of homeowners losing their properties.
As a result, some of these proceedings would have taken place during the pandemic, but were delayed due to the moratorium. It was a bit of a catch-up.
Where are foreclosures rising the most?
Foreclosures are starting all over the country, but certain states have a higher percentage of homeowners at risk of losing their properties. Illinois has the highest rate of foreclosures, followed by Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Nevada. Nevada actually typified the last foreclosure crisis during the Great Recession.
The metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates were Fayetteville, North Carolina; Cleveland; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Columbia, South Carolina; and Bakersfield, California. (All metros must have at least 200,000 residents to be included).
Bank repossessions also rose to the highest level in three years in the first quarter. Lenders repossessed more than 12,500 homes in foreclosure. This is up 8% from the last quarter of 2022, as lenders typically don't want to evict people over the holidays. It's also up about 6 per cent from a year ago.
Good news for homeowners: house prices have risen enormously over the past few years. This means that people who are behind on their mortgage payments, perhaps because they have lost their jobs or can't make ends meet because of high inflation, can generally sell their homes for a profit and avoid the foreclosure process.
"Since many homeowners still have significant equity in their homes, this may help keep the level of foreclosure activity from increasing," said Barber.
