US Foreclosures Up 14% In 2025; Florida Tops States

Authored by  Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,

Home foreclosures across America were on the rise in 2025, increasing by 14 percent from 2024, with Florida experiencing the highest numbers in the nation.

In its Jan. 15 report, property data and analytics provider ATTOM, said that 367,460 U.S. properties were involved with default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions last year.

Those properties represented 0.26 percent of all housing units, a slight uptick from 0.23 percent in 2024, but down from 0.36 percent in 2019.

While the amount of the annual foreclosures were also down by 25 percent from 2019, the fourth quarter alone saw a total of 111,692 properties with foreclosure filings—up by 10 percent from the previous quarter and 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024.

Nationwide, one in 1,274 properties was involved in a foreclosure filing in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Florida led in foreclosure filings last year (1 in 230 housing units), followed by Delaware (1 in 240), South Carolina (1 in 242), and Illinois and Nevada (1 in 284).

“Foreclosure activity increased in 2025, reflecting a continued normalization of the housing market following several years of historically low levels,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in the report.

“While filings, starts, and repossessions all rose compared to 2024, foreclosure activity remains well below pre-pandemic norms and a fraction of what we saw during the last housing crisis.”

Barber added that the data indicates the recent surge in foreclosures is being driven more by “market recalibration” than homeowner distress.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in 2025 were New Jersey (1 in 273 units), Indiana (1 in 302), Ohio (1 in 307), Texas (1 in 319), and Maryland (1 in 326).

In December 2025 alone, 1 in 3,163 properties nationwide had a foreclosure filing, with New Jersey leading the pack for the highest foreclosure rates.

In total, 28,268 properties began the foreclosure process in the month—a 19 percent hike from the previous month and 47 percent higher than December 2024.

Among metro areas with a population above 1 million, Cleveland fared the worst in terms of 2025 foreclosures, followed by Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Orlando. Lakeland, Florida, took the lead for the most foreclosures in metro areas with populations of at least 200,000. Joining Lakeland were Columbia, South Carolina; Cleveland; Cape Coral, Florida; and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The report shows that foreclosure starts also increased during 2025 in all regions of the country. In total, lenders started the foreclosure process on 289,441 properties, up by 14 percent from 2024. Texas led with 37,215 starts, followed by Florida (34,336), California (29,777), Illinois (15,010), and New York (13,664).

Described as the official beginning of the legal process in which a lender attempts to recover and sell a property due to non-payment, a foreclosure normally begins after 120 days of missed payments.

According to Rocket Mortgage, the process can vary from state to state.

In those metro areas with populations over 1 million, New York City placed first with the most foreclosure starts at 14,189 last year. Chicago recorded 13,312 starts, Houston, 13,009, Miami, 8,936, and Los Angeles, 8,503.

In terms of bank repossessions last year, lenders took over 46,439 properties, representing a 27 percent hike from 2024. Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Illinois saw the largest numbers of repossessions during 2025.

The ATTOM report indicates that properties foreclosed during the fourth quarter of 2025 had been in the foreclosure process an average of 592 days, a 3 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a 22 percent decrease from December 2024.