U.S. foreclosure activity continued its steady rise in October as the number of properties with foreclosure filings climbed 3% from September and 19% from a year ago.
The trend does not concern Rob Barber, the CEO of property market analytics firm Attom, who noted in the release of his company’s monthly foreclosure report, “Even with these increases, activity remains well below historic highs.”
The eighth consecutive month of increases brought the number of residential properties with foreclosure filings up to 36,766 in October, or 1 in every 3,871 units nationwide. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Florida, South Carolina and Illinois.
In Florida, 1 in every 1,829 properties had a foreclosure filing in October, a foreclosure rate of 0.0547% — more than double the nationwide rate of 0.0258%. South Carolina’s foreclosure rate was 0.0504% and the foreclosure rate in Illinois was 0.0389%.
States that saw the largest increase in new filings were Florida, Texas and California. Lenders initiated the foreclosure process on 25,129 properties across the U.S. in October, a 6% increase from September and a 20% increase year over year.
Florida recorded 4,136 foreclosure starts last month, while Texas posted 3,080 starts and California had 2,685. Illinois followed in fourth with 1,252.
Among metros areas with populations exceeding 1 million people, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Louisville, Ky., Washington, D.C., and Detroit saw the largest annual declines in new foreclosure filings.
“The current trend appears to reflect a gradual normalization in foreclosure volumes as market conditions adjust and some homeowners continue to navigate higher housing and borrowing costs,” said Barber.
Completed foreclosures also increased annually as real-estate owned (REO) purchases — whereby lenders and investors repossess foreclosed properties — rose 2% over the month and 32% from October 2024.
Metro areas that posted the largest volumes of REO purchases in October were Chicago (122), Atlanta (117), New York (111), Houston (74) and Riverside, Calif. (72).
