ATTOM: Foreclosure Completions Up 64%

December 7, 2022

ATTOM, Irvine, Calif., reported 30,677 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in October, up 57 percent from a year ago, but down 5 percent from October.

The company’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report also reported lenders repossessed 3,770 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in November, down 9 percent from last month but up 64 percent from last year.

“We may be at or near a peak level of foreclosure activity for 2022,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence with ATTOM. “While foreclosure starts and foreclosure completions both increased compared to last year’s artificially low levels, they declined from last month, and lenders often put a moratorium on foreclosures during the holiday season.”

The report said nationwide one in every 4,580 housing units had a foreclosure filing in November. States with the highest foreclosure rates were again: Illinois (one in every 2,401 housing units); Delaware (one in every 2,736 housing units); New Jersey (one in every 2,916 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 3,195 housing units); and Wyoming (one in every 3,237 housing units).

Among 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in November were Cleveland, Ohio (one in every 1,913 housing units); Columbia, S.C. (one in every 1,938 housing units); Davenport, Iowa (one in every 2,000 housing units); Bakersfield, Calif. (one in every 2,034 housing units); and Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 2,063 housing units).

The report also said lenders started the foreclosure process on 20,686 U.S. properties in November, down 5 percent from last month but up 98 percent from a year ago.

“Foreclosure starts in November nearly doubled from last year’s numbers, but are still just above 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels,” Sharga said. “We may continue to see below-normal foreclosure activity, since unemployment rates are still very low, and mortgage delinquency rates are lower than historical averages.”