Housing Foreclosure Rates and Statistics 2023

Here are some housing foreclosure stats in the United States

In 2010, foreclosure rates peaked amid what became known as the “foreclosure crisis.” The housing bubble, foreclosures, and mortgage-backed assets devalued due to subprime mortgage delinquencies. Since then, U.S. foreclosure rates have fallen. After the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of individuals lost their jobs and couldn't pay their mortgages, threatening another foreclosure wave.

The government instituted a foreclosure moratorium, a mortgage forbearance program for federally backed loans, and new mortgage servicing legislation. 2020 and 2021 foreclosures were modest. In 2022, foreclosure rates increased and are predicted to rise further in 2023. High-interest rates could bring more foreclosures in 2023. As some homeowners default on their mortgages, housing inventory will rise in 2023. Homes will also spend more time on the market, resulting in an increase in overall housing inventory.

ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its Year-End 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings— default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — were reported on 324,237 U.S. properties in 2022, up 115 percent from 2021 but down 34 percent from 2019, before the pandemic shook up the market. Foreclosure filings in 2022 were also down 89 percent from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010.

Those 324,237 properties with foreclosure filings in 2022 represented 0.23 percent of all U.S. housing units, up slightly from 0.11 percent in 2021, but down from 0.36 percent in 2019 and down from a peak of 2.23 percent in 2010.

“Eighteen months after the end of the government’s foreclosure moratorium, and with less than five percent of the 8.4 million borrowers who entered the CARES Act forbearance program remaining, foreclosure activity remains significantly lower than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “It seems clear that government and mortgage industry efforts during the pandemic, coupled with a strong economy, have helped prevent millions of unnecessary foreclosures.”

ATTOM’s year-end foreclosure report also includes new data for December 2022, showing there were 30,822 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings, up less than 1 percent from the previous month but up 72 percent from a year ago.

• Lenders repossessed 42,854 properties through foreclosures (REO) in 2022, up 67 percent from 2021.
• It was down 70 percent from 2019 (143,955) and down 96 percent from a peak of 1,050,500 in 2010.
• States that saw the greatest number of REOs in 2022 included Illinois (5,518 REOs); Michigan (3,669 REOs); Pennsylvania (2,741 REOs); New York (2,405 REOs); and California (2,223 REOs).

Those metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in 2022 included Chicago, Illinois (3,545 REOs); Detroit, Illinois (2,135 REOs); New York, New York (1,656 REOs); St. Louis, Missouri (1,395 REOs); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1,302 REOs).

Lenders began the foreclosure process on 248,170 properties in the United States in 2022, up 169 percent from 2021 but down 26 percent from 2019 and 88 percent from a peak of 2,139,005 in 2009. California (27,269 foreclosure starts), Texas (23,151 foreclosure starts), Florida (22,968 foreclosure starts), Illinois (16,941 foreclosure starts), and Ohio (13,469 foreclosure starts) had the highest number of foreclosure starts in 2022.

In contrast to the national trend, 5 states experienced an increase in foreclosure starts in 2019.

• Indiana was up 81%
• Michigan was up 10%
• Idaho was up 8%
• Colorado was up 2%
• Minnesota was up (up less than 1 percent)

These metropolitan statistical areas saw the highest number of foreclosure starts in 2022.

• New York, New York (15,821 foreclosure starts)
• Chicago, Illinois (14,360 foreclosure starts)
• Los Angeles, California (8,185 foreclosure starts)
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (7,286 foreclosure starts)
• Miami, Florida (7,090 foreclosure starts)

States with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022 were:

• Illinois (0.49 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing)
• New Jersey (0.45 percent)
• Delaware (0.40 percent)
• Ohio (0.38 percent)
• South Carolina (0.37 percent)

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022, were Nevada (0.34 percent); Florida (0.33 percent); Indiana (0.30 percent); Maryland (0.27 percent); and Michigan (0.26 percent).

Among 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022 were:

• Cleveland, Ohio (0.70 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing)
• Jacksonville, North Carolina (0.58 percent)
• Atlantic City, New Jersey (0.58 percent)
• Columbia, South Carolina (0.55 percent)
• Chicago, Illinois (0.53 percent)

Metro areas with a population greater than 1 million, including Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois, that had the highest foreclosure rates in 2022, were, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (0.43 percent); Las Vegas, Nevada (0.42 percent); and Jacksonville, Florida (0.42 percent).

Foreclosed properties in the United States had been in the foreclosure process for an average of 852 days in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 4% decrease from the previous quarter and a 9% decrease from a year ago. States with the longest average time to foreclose in Q4 2022 were Hawaii (2,546 days); New Jersey (2,041 days); Louisiana (1,925 days); New York (1,828 days); and Pennsylvania (1,692 days).

December 2022 Foreclosure Activity High-Level Takeaways

Nationwide in December 2022, one in every 4,558 properties had a foreclosure filing. States with the highest foreclosure rates in December 2022 were South Carolina (one in every 2,301 housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (one in every 2,378 housing units); Illinois (one in every 2,399 housing units); Delaware (one in every 2,535 housing units); and Ohio (one in every 3,027 housing units).

21,023 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in December 2022, up 2 percent from the previous month and up 129 percent from a year ago. Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 3,663 U.S. properties in December 2022, down 3 percent from the previous month but up 21 percent from a year ago.

Top 10 ZIPS with Highest Foreclosure Rates in the US

ATTOM’s 2022 year-end foreclosure report also uncovers the top 10 zip codes with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022.  Among those zips with 10,000 or more housing units, those with the highest foreclosure rates included the following.

• 44108 in Cleveland, OH (2.54 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing)
• 44112 in Cleveland, OH (2.38 percent); 44105 in Cleveland, OH (2.14 percent)
• 44110 in Cleveland, OH (2.00 percent)
• 44137 in Maple Heights, OH (1.93 percent)
• 8046 in Willingboro, NJ (1.91 percent)
• 60628 in Chicago, IL (1.86 percent)
• 44128 in Cleveland, OH (1.71 percent)
• 44103 in Cleveland, OH (1.58 percent)
• 44104 in Cleveland, OH (1.58 percent)

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Sources:

• https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/foreclosures/attom-year-end-2022-u-s-foreclosure-market-report/
• https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/figuresfriday/top-10-zips-with-highest-foreclosure-rates-in-2022/