U.S. Foreclosure Statistics (2026)

Foreclosure activity in the United States has been climbing for two years running. Even so, it remains far below the levels of the last housing crisis, and below where it sat before the pandemic. Below are the latest national numbers, how long the process actually takes, and the states seeing the most activity. Every figure comes from ATTOM Data Solutions, the property-data provider whose foreclosure reports the industry treats as the standard.

Last updated May 2026. Source: ATTOM Data Solutions (Year-End 2025 & Q1 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Reports).

National foreclosure volume

Lenders filed foreclosure actions on 367,460 U.S. properties in 2025, about 0.26% of all housing units. That was up 14% from 2024 and 3% from 2023, but still down 25% from 2019 (before the pandemic) and down 87% from the 2010 peak of nearly 2.9 million properties.

The pace picked up heading into 2026. In the first quarter alone, 118,727 properties had a foreclosure filing, up 6% from the prior quarter and 26% from a year earlier, the highest quarterly total in six years. Of those:

• Foreclosure starts: 82,631 properties entered the process.
• Completed repossessions (REOs): 14,020 homes were taken back by lenders, up 45% from Q1 2025.

Keep the trend in perspective. ATTOM attributes the increase to a housing market normalizing after years of historically low foreclosure activity, not to widespread homeowner distress. Strong home equity and disciplined lending continue to keep the numbers a fraction of crisis-era levels. The direction is up; the starting point is very low.

How long foreclosure takes

Foreclosure is slow. Properties foreclosed in Q1 2026 spent an average of 577 days, more than a year and a half, between the first public notice and the end of the process. That’s actually down 14% from a year earlier, but it still means most homeowners have far more time than the word “foreclosure” makes it feel like.

The timeline swings dramatically by state, mostly because some states require a court process (judicial foreclosure) and others don’t:

Knowing roughly where your state lands tells you how much runway you realistically have to work with, whether that’s catching up on payments, negotiating with the lender, or selling before an auction date.

States with the highest foreclosure rates

Nationally, one in every 1,211 housing units had a foreclosure filing in Q1 2026. These five states ran well above that rate:

If you’re the one facing foreclosure

Statistics are one thing; your house is another. If you’ve fallen behind, the most useful thing to know is that the process is slower than it feels and you have more than one way out: reinstatement, loan modification, a short sale, or selling the house outright before it reaches auction.

Selling for cash is one of those options, and it’s the one we handle: a homeowner behind on payments can sell as-is and close before an auction date, walking away with whatever equity is left instead of losing it in the process. It isn’t the right move for everyone, and we’ll tell you honestly when it isn’t. If you want to understand it, start here.

• How to sell your house to stop foreclosure
• Selling when you’re behind on your mortgage
• Cash sale vs. traditional listing: timeline & cost data
• Home repair cost statistics
• Inherited house statistics
• Common questions about selling for cash
• Home seller glossary (terms explained)

We buy houses nationwide, including in the highest-activity states: Florida, Texas, and Virginia among them.

Sources

All figures are from ATTOM Data Solutions, specifically its Year-End 2025 and Q1 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Reports, the most recent available as of May 2026. Foreclosure figures are revised over time as reporting catches up; we update this page when ATTOM publishes new reports.