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Foreclosure Starts, Bank Repossessions at Highest Numbers in Two Years, But Still Well Below Normal Levels

IRVINE, Calif. — April 21, 2022 — ATTOM, licensor of the nation’s most comprehensive foreclosure data and parent company to RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), the largest online marketplace for foreclosure and distressed properties, today released its Q1 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 78,271 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter of 2022, up 39 percent from the previous quarter and up 132 percent from a year ago.

The report also shows a total of 33,333 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in March 2022, up 29 percent from the previous month and up 181 percent from a year ago — the 11th consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in U.S. foreclosure activity.

“Foreclosure activity has continued to gradually return to normal levels since the expiration of the government’s moratorium, and the CFPB’s enhanced mortgage servicing guidelines,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM. “But even with the large year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts and bank repossessions, foreclosure activity is still only running at about 57% of where it was in Q1 2020, the last quarter before the government enacted consumer protection programs due to the pandemic.”

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Foreclosure starts increase in all 50 states

A total of 50,759 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in Q1 2022, up 67 percent from the previous quarter and up 188 percent from a year ago.

States that had the greatest number of foreclosures starts in Q1 2022 included, California (5,378 foreclosure starts), Florida (4.707 foreclosure starts), Texas (4,649 foreclosure starts), Illinois (3,534 foreclosure starts), and Ohio (3,136 foreclosure starts).

Those major metros that had the greatest number of foreclosures starts in Q1 2022 included, Chicago, Illinois (3,101 foreclosure starts), New York, New York (2,580 foreclosure starts), Los Angeles, California (1,554 foreclosure starts), Houston, Texas (1,431 foreclosure starts), and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1,375 foreclosure starts).

Highest foreclosure rates in Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio

Nationwide one in every 1,795 housing units had a foreclosure filing in Q1 2022. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Illinois (one in every 791 housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (one in every 792 housing units); Ohio (one in every 991 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 1,081 housing units); and Nevada (one in every 1,090 housing units).

Among 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in Q1 2022 were Cleveland, Ohio (one in every 535 housing units); Atlantic City, New Jersey (one in 600); Jacksonville, North Carolina (one in 633); Rockford, Illinois (one in 634); and Columbia, South Carolina (one in 672).

Other major metros with a population of at least 1 million and foreclosure rates in the top 20 highest nationwide, included Cleveland, Ohio at No.1, Chicago, Illinois at No. 6, Detroit, Michigan at No. 10, Las Vegas, Nevada at No. 13, and Jacksonville, Florida at No. 16.

Bank repossessions increase 41 percent from last quarter

Lenders repossessed 11,824 U.S. properties through foreclosure (REO) in Q1 2022, up 41 percent from the previous quarter and up 160 percent from a year ago.

Those states that had the greatest number of REOs in Q1 2022 were Michigan (1,592 REOs); Illinois (1,288 REOs); Florida (673 REOs); California (655 REOs); and Pennsylvania (639 REOs).

Average time to foreclose decreases 3 percent from previous quarter

Properties foreclosed in Q1 2022 had been in the foreclosure process an average of 917 days, down slightly from 941 days in the previous quarter and down 1 percent from 930 days in Q1 2021.

States with the longest average foreclosure timelines for homes foreclosed in Q1 2022 were Hawaii (2,578 days); Louisiana (1,976 days); Kentucky (1,891 days); Nevada (1,808 days); and Connecticut (1,632 days).

States with the shortest average foreclosure timelines for homes foreclosed in Q1 2022 were Montana (133 days); Mississippi (146 days); West Virginia (197 days); Wyoming (226 days); and Minnesota (228 days).

March 2022 Foreclosure Activity High-Level Takeaways

“March foreclosure activity was at its highest level in exactly two years – since March 2020, when there were almost 47,000 foreclosure filings across the country,” Sharga added. “It’s likely that we’ll continue to see significant month-over-month and year-over-year growth through the second quarter of 2022, but still won’t reach historically normal levels of foreclosures until the end of the year at the earliest, unless the U.S. economy takes a significant turn for the worse.”

  • Nationwide in March 2022, one in every 4,215 properties had a foreclosure filing.
  • States with the highest foreclosure rates in March 2022 were Illinois (one in every 1,825 housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (one in every 2,022 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 2,299 housing units); Delaware (one in every 2,579 housing units); and Ohio (one in every 2,604 housing units).
  • 22,360 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in March 2022, up 35 percent from the previous month and up 248 percent from March 2021.
  • Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 4,406 U.S. properties in March 2022, up 67 percent from the previous month and up 180 percent from March 2021.

U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State – Q1 2022

Rate Rank State Name Total Properties with Filings 1/every X HU (Foreclosure Rate) %∆ Q4 2021 %∆ Q1 2021
  U.S. 78,271 1,795 39.34 132.27
18 Alabama 1,143 2,002 68.83 78.87
44 Alaska 52 6,106 -17.46 -32.47
15 Arizona 1,656 1,861 165.38 134.23
34 Arkansas 441 3,096 31.25 143.65
12 California 8,243 1,746 31.80 119.64
32 Colorado 830 3,002 162.66 385.38
14 Connecticut 824 1,857 26.38 120.32
6 Delaware 386 1,163 29.97 51.97
District of Columbia 47 7,455 0.00 147.37
8 Florida 8,147 1,211 0.85 92.87
10 Georgia 2,592 1,702 55.58 123.64
30 Hawaii 194 2,892 -0.51 84.76
43 Idaho 125 6,015 16.82 111.86
1 Illinois 6,861 791 17.99 178.45
7 Indiana 2,415 1,210 58.05 100.58
16 Iowa 728 1,941 34.32 78.00
40 Kansas 270 4,725 74.19 147.71
41 Kentucky 417 4,783 18.13 7.75
22 Louisiana 907 2,286 52.18 18.72
17 Maine 373 1,981 23.10 81.07
11 Maryland 1,483 1,707 21.16 132.45
35 Massachusetts 966 3,104 14.59 68.29
9 Michigan 3,205 1,426 190.57 490.24
37 Minnesota 773 3,215 72.93 170.28
33 Mississippi 433 3,048 86.64 73.20
24 Missouri 1,151 2,421 68.03 75.73
45 Montana 77 6,686 71.11 97.44
36 Nebraska 267 3,162 190.22 178.13
5 Nevada 1,175 1,090 22.91 487.50
38 New Hampshire 193 3,310 47.33 96.94
2 New Jersey 4,752 792 69.29 311.79
25 New Mexico 376 2,502 15.69 44.06
26 New York 3,215 2,640 25.54 261.64
20 North Carolina 2,265 2,079 38.03 102.59
47 North Dakota 35 10,590 -65.00 -12.50
3 Ohio 5,289 991 46.31 154.16
13 Oklahoma 956 1,827 49.84 111.50
46 Oregon 239 7,589 143.88 95.90
21 Pennsylvania 2,702 2,125 61.70 102.09
39 Rhode Island 141 3,429 -20.79 147.37
4 South Carolina 2,170 1,081 76.42 158.95
50 South Dakota 22 17,724 10.00 -8.33
28 Tennessee 1,084 2,797 49.52 125.36
23 Texas 4,982 2,326 36.61 130.33
19 Utah 558 2,063 67.57 71.17
49 Vermont 24 13,930 9.09 200.00
29 Virginia 1,287 2,811 45.75 118.88
42 Washington 645 4,965 38.71 109.42
48 West Virginia 79 10,831 125.71 119.44
27 Wisconsin 983 2,775 30.54 42.26
31 Wyoming 93 2,924 43.08 14.81

 

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.

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About ATTOM

ATTOM provides foreclosure data licenses that can power various enterprise industries including real estate, insurance, marketing, government, mortgage and more. ATTOM multi-sources from 3,000 counties property tax, deed, mortgage, 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.

About RealtyTrac (Powered by ATTOM’s Property Data)

RealtyTrac.com is the largest online marketplace for foreclosure and distressed properties, helping individual investors and real estate agents looking to gain a competitive edge in the distressed market. Realtytrac.com enables real estate professionals the ability to find, analyze and invest in residential properties.

Media Contact:

Christine Stricker

949.748.8428

christine.stricker@attomdata.com

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datareports@attomdata.com

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