Home Foreclosure Update

You've probably seen the headlines: foreclosure filings are up, and the numbers are climbing. It's true. According to ATTOM Data, 367,460 properties had foreclosure filings in 2025, up 14 percent from 2024. The context changes things considerably.

For roughly three years, the market was operating under conditions that made foreclosure almost a non-event. When home values surged and interest rates sat near record lows, homeowners had both the equity and the incentive to sell rather than default. Foreclosures didn't just slow down, they nearly vanished. That artificially low baseline is a big part of why today's year-over-year comparisons look so alarming on paper.

The bigger picture tells a different story. 2025 filings were still down 87 percent from the peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010, and down 25 percent from 2019. In 2015, when the market was still grinding through the aftermath of the housing crisis, foreclosure rates were running well above today's levels.

A big reason we aren't seeing a repeat of that era comes down to equity. Most homeowners are sitting on significant equity gains built up over the last several years. A homeowner with $100,000 or more in equity has options, and a foreclosure typically isn't one of them. They can sell, short sale, refinance, or work something out with their lender, long before a bank gets involved. That equity cushion is one of the strongest buffers the housing market has right now.

That said, there's no ignoring what's happening with the cost of living. Homeowners’ insurance premiums have jumped sharply in many parts of the country. Utilities, gas, and groceries are all taking a bigger bite out of monthly budgets. With inflation recently hitting a three-year high (and climbing), more homeowners are taking a hard look at their housing costs and whether their current home still makes sense for their situation. Rightsizing is becoming an increasingly common conversation, with people trading down to reduce expenses or simply re-evaluating what they need. Whether the continued pressure on household budgets eventually pushes foreclosure numbers higher remains to be seen.

If you have questions about what this means for you, whether you're thinking about buying, selling, or just want to know where things stand, I'm always happy to talk it through.