Auction.com: Foreclosure Auction Volume Surges
Foreclosure auction volume surged in the fourth quarter, increasing 48% from a year before to the highest level since late 2020, according to Auction.com, Irvine, Calif.
But the firm’s Q4 2025 Auction Market Dispatch reported that foreclosure auction volume remains 39% below the Q1 2020 level.
Volume increased across all loan types (FHA, GSE, Private, VA, USDA) and in 43 states, including Texas (up 92%), Florida (up 176%), Ohio (up 4%), Illinois (up 41%), and Georgia (up 140%).
Despite the widespread YoY increases, only 13 states posted volume above pre-pandemic levels, Auction.com reported. Vacant bank-owned (REO) auction volume increased 24% to a five-plus-year high.
“The jump in foreclosure auction volume in late 2025 represents a continued return toward more balanced levels of foreclosure activity as short-term emergency protections and stimulus given to distressed homeowners during the pandemic phase out,” the report said.
A survey of Auction.com buyers in early January 2026 shows a slight increase in willingness to buy compared to the previous quarter: 23% of those surveyed said market conditions were making them more willing to buy at auction, up from 19% in the previous quarter. That 23% was slightly below the 24% who said market conditions were making them more willing to buy in the first quarter of 2025.
Distressed Demand
Foreclosure auction buyer activity slowed in late 2025, Auction.com found. “The foreclosure auction sales rate — a good measurement of buyers’ willingness to buy at the price provided — declined 7% quarter-over-quarter and 15% year-over-year to a 23-quarter low. The sales rate declined steadily throughout the quarter, ending at a 68-month low in December.”
The sales rate decreased from a year ago in more than two-thirds of 88 major markets analyzed, including Chicago (down 16%), Dallas-Fort Worth (down 27%), Houston (down 33%), Atlanta (down 20%) and St. Louis (down 19%).
“Waiting to see how current events and policies of the U.S. government are going to shape this year,” Auction.com survey respondent David, an Auction.com buyer in California, where the sales rate decreased in five of six metros analyzed.
Markets with annual increases included New York (up 2%), Phoenix (up 18%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (up 2%), Miami (up 19%) and Pittsburgh (up 40%).
