There were a total of 30,528 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in February, that’s down 3% from a month ago and up 18% from a year ago, according to the February 2023 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from ATTOM. Filings included default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions.
“Foreclosure activity finally started to stabilize in February after 21 straight months of increases,” said Rob Barber, chief executive officer at ATTOM. “The numbers don’t yet show a clear trend toward fewer foreclosures, partly because February is a short month. But with historically high levels of home equity flowing from a decade of rising values, we may be seeing a growing number of delinquent mortgage payers with at least the option to sell before facing foreclosure.”
Lenders repossessed 3,831 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in February 2023, dipping 2% from last month but increasing 45% from last year. Lenders started the foreclosure process on 20,360 U.S. properties in February 2023, down 2% from last month but up 23% from a year ago, the company said.
Among the 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in February 2023 were Fayetteville, NC (one in every 1,627 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Atlantic City, NJ (one in every 1,708 housing units); Florence, SC (one in every 1,833 housing units); Jacksonville, NC (one in every 1,934 housing units); and Cleveland, OH (one in every 2,049 housing units).
Other than Cleveland, among the metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million, those with the worst foreclosure rates in February 2023 included: Chicago, IL (one in every 2,300 housing units); Las Vegas, NV (one in every 2,305 housing units); Riverside, CA (one in every 2,450 housing); and Baltimore, MD (one in every 2,510 housing units).
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