U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO SEE AN ANNUAL INCREASE

Completed Foreclosures (REOs) Decrease Annually in 28 States; Foreclosure Starts Up Monthly and Annually Nationwide

IRVINE, Calif., March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its February 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 32,938 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – down 1 percent from last month but up 8 percent from a year ago.

"The annual uptick in U.S. foreclosure activity hints at shifting dynamics within the housing market," said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. "These trends could signify evolving financial landscapes for homeowners, prompting adjustments in market strategies and lending practices. We continue to closely monitor these trends to comprehend their complete effect on foreclosure activity."

Foreclosure completion numbers decrease annually in 28 states
Lenders repossessed 3,397 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in February 2024, down 14 percent from last month and 11 percent from a year ago.

States that had at least 50 or more REOs and that saw the greatest annual decrease in February 2024 included: Georgia (down 52 percent); New York (down 41 percent); North Carolina (down 34 percent); New Jersey (down 28 percent); and Maryland (down 26 percent).

Counter to the national trend, those states with at least 50 or more REOs that saw the greatest annual increase in February 2024 included: South Carolina (up 51 percent); Missouri (up 50 percent); Pennsylvania (up 46 percent); Texas (up 7 percent); and Indiana (up 0.8 percent).

Among the 224 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, that saw the greatest number of REOs included: Chicago, IL (207 REOs); Philadelphia, PA (182 REOs); New York, NY (173 REOs); Pittsburgh, PA (105 REOs); and Detroit, MI (88 REOs).

Highest foreclosure rates in South Carolina, Delaware, and Florida
Nationwide, one in every 4,279 housing units had a foreclosure filing in February 2024. States with the highest foreclosure rates were South Carolina (one in every 2,248 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (one in every 2,428 housing units); Florida (one in every 2,632 housing units); Ohio (one in every 2,828 housing units); and Connecticut (one in every 2,884 housing units).

Those major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population greater than 200,000, with the highest foreclosure rates in February 2024 were Columbia, SC (one in every 1,478 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Lakeland, FL (one in every 1,600 housing units); Spartanburg, SC (one in every 1,742 housing units); Merced, CA (one in every 1,794 housing units); and Florence, SC (one in every 1,809 housing units).

Those metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million with the worst foreclosure rates in February 2024 included: Orlando, FL (one in every 1,938 housing units); Cleveland, OH (on in every 2,176 housing units); Riverside, CA (one in every 2,293 housing units); Philadelphia, PA (one in every 2,355 housing units); and Miami, FL (one in every 2,392 housing units).

Foreclosure starts increase monthly and annually
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 22,575 U.S. properties in February 2024, up 4 percent from last month and up 11 percent from a year ago.

Those states that saw the greatest number of foreclosures starts in February 2024 included: Florida (2,732 foreclosure starts); California (2,730 foreclosure starts); Texas (2,694 foreclosure starts); New York (1,289 foreclosure starts); and Ohio (1,097 foreclosure starts).

Among those major metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the greatest number of foreclosure starts in February 2024, included: New York, NY (1,367 foreclosure starts); Houston, TX (998 foreclosure starts); Los Angeles, CA (808 foreclosure starts); Chicago, IL (792 foreclosure starts); and Miami, FL (777 foreclosure starts).

Report methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the ATTOM Data Warehouse during the month and quarter. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the quarter may have been recorded in the previous quarter. Data is collected from more than 3,000 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 99 percent of the U.S. population. ATTOM's report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). For the annual, midyear and quarterly reports, if more than one type of foreclosure document is received for a property during the timeframe, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The annual, midyear, quarterly and monthly reports all check if the same type of document was filed against a property previously. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located, the report does not count the property in the current year, quarter or month.

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation's population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications– AI-Ready Solutions. 

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SOURCE ATTOM