More Americans are losing their homes as foreclosures on U.S, properties rise

From staff and wire reports

U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 22% in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, according to a report from real estate data analytics firm ATTOM.

While still below pre-pandemic levels, foreclosure activity has increased on an annual basis for 23 straight months.

In Washington, foreclosures increased 16.43% compared with the same time period last year. However, foreclosures were down 4.5% from the last three months of 2022, according to data from ATTOM.

Homeowners in Idaho faired much worse. Foreclosures in the Gem State jumped 69.6% over last year and they have climbed 15.8% higher than the last quarter of 2022, according to the ATTOM data.

The national uptrend reflects higher jobless rates, ongoing economic challenges and backlogged foreclosures working through the pipeline after the lifting of government interventions to help struggling homeowners during the pandemic, said Rob Barber, chief executive officer of ATTOM.

“However, with many homeowners still having significant home equity, that may help in keeping increased levels of foreclosure activity at bay,” Barber said in a statement.

The number of foreclosure filings has been climbing since the federal moratorium ended in mid-2021. During the pandemic, an estimated 2 million homeowners fell behind on their mortgages.

Major metropolitan cities with populations of more than 200,000 that had the most foreclosures starts last quarter included New York (4,674), Chicago (3,549), Los Angeles (2,210), Houston (2,120) and Philadelphia (1,985).

Meanwhile, on a percentage basis, Michigan topped the list of states with a 41% increase in foreclosure filings from the previous quarter.

Major metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in the January-March period included Fayetteville, North Carolina (1 in every 526 housing units); Cleveland (1 in 582); Atlantic City, New Jersey (1 in 661); Columbia, South Carolina (1 in 671); and Bakersfield, California (1 in 688).

Barber pointed out that in January, 24 out of 30 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates had median household incomes below the nationwide median of about $71,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. Unemployment rates exceeded 5% in nine of the top 30 metros, based on December 2022 federal data.

Staff writer Thomas Clouse contributed to this report.