Residential foreclosures are on the rise across the United States.
An April 16 report by real estate analytics firm ATTOM showed that 118,727 homes were in foreclosure in the first quarter of the year. That’s a 6 percent jump from the fourth quarter of 2025 and a 26 percent year-over-year increase.
March was an especially active month for foreclosure filings, ATTOM noted. Just under 46,000 homes were in the foreclosure process for the month, up by 18 percent from February and 28 percent from the same month in 2025.
ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said initial foreclosure proceedings and completed foreclosures spiked in the quarter and were also up significantly compared to the first quarter of last year.
“While volumes remain below historical peaks, the continued rise, especially in starts and bank repossessions, suggests financial pressure may be building for some homeowners and could signal shifting housing market dynamics,” Barber said in a statement.
Rising inflation and surging energy costs are pressuring consumer finances. Inflation spiked from 2.4 percent in February to 3.4 percent in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The average retail price for gasoline is expected to peak at $4.30 per gallon, with diesel fuel peaking at around $5.80 a gallon, before both types of fuel retreat in average price later in the year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on April 7.
Online legal services provider LegalShield on April 7 noted that foreclosure-related legal requests in March spiked to their highest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. LegalShield’s foreclosure index spiked by 13.4 percent in March and is up 20.3 percent for the quarter ended March 31 versus the same period in 2025.
“Google searches tell you people are worried. Our Foreclosure Index tells you they’ve decided to act,” said Matt Layton, LegalShield’s senior vice president of consumer analytics.
“Right now, both signals are elevated simultaneously. Historically, when legal calls reach this level, court filings follow within two quarters.”
According to ATTOM, Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, and New York led the nation with a combined 36,943 foreclosure starts for the first quarter. At the metropolitan level, foreclosure starts in the quarter were highest in New York City (3,868), Atlanta (2,520), and Dallas (2,427).
Foreclosure starts were especially steep in mid-sized cities in the South. Lakeland, Florida, had one home in every 409 residences initiate foreclosure proceedings, followed by Punta Gorda, Florida, at one in every 416 properties. Columbia, South Carolina (one in 440); Fayetteville, North Carolina (one in every 480); and Macon, Georgia (one in every 492) rounded out the top five of highest foreclosure rates for cities with populations at least 200,000 residents, ATTOM reported.
Lenders took possession of 14,020 homes through the foreclosure process in the first quarter, ATTOM added. That’s a 45 percent increase from the same quarter in 2025. Homes that were foreclosed on in the quarter took an average of 577 days to work through foreclosure proceedings.
