U.S. foreclosures are creeping back to their pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report released by ATTOM Data Solutions.
In its Midyear 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, the organization indicated that there were 164,581 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions—in the first six months of the year.
Coming off roughly a year and a half of a moratorium that froze foreclosures during the pandemic, that marks a 153% increase from the first half of last year. However, it’s down 1% from the same period of 2020, marking the emergence of the coronavirus outbreak.
Foreclosures have steadily increased since the foreclosure moratorium was lifted late last year. As 2021 came to a close, pundits predicted that foreclosure starts would rise over the next six months to a year, with the increase ranging from a “tick to a torrent.”
One could argue that the latter has occurred, as 117,383 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first six months of 2022—up 219% from the first half of last year.
ATTOM experts indicated that the sharp year-over-year rise was primarily brought on by loans that were already in foreclosure or more than 120 days delinquent before the pandemic.
Highlights
- Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio posted the highest state foreclosure rates.
- Nationwide, one in every 854 housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2022.
- Cleveland, Atlantic City and Jacksonville had the highest foreclosure rates for metro areas with a population of at least 200,000.
- Foreclosure starts are up 219% from last year’s first half and 19% from the first half of 2020.
- Lenders foreclosed (REO) on 20,750 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2022—up 30% from the last half of 2021 and 113% from the first half of 2020.
- There were 90,139 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the second quarter of 2022—up 15% from Q1 2022 and 165% YoY.
- The average foreclosure timeline increased from last year—948 days compared to 922 in Q2 2021.
The takeaway:
“Foreclosure activity across the United States continued its slow, steady climb back to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2022,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “While overall foreclosure activity is still running significantly below historic averages, the dramatic increase in foreclosure starts suggests that we may be back to normal levels by sometime in early 2023.
“It’s important to note that many of the foreclosure starts we’re seeing today—in fact, much of the overall foreclosure activity we’re seeing right now—is on loans that were either already in foreclosure or were more than 120 days delinquent prior to the pandemic,” added Sharga. “Many of these loans were protected by the government’s foreclosure moratorium, or they would have already been foreclosed on two years ago. There’s very little delinquency or default activity that’s truly new in the numbers we’re tracking.”
