Foreclosure activity in the U.S. is on the rise. In the first six months of the year, default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions, increased by 13% compared to the first half of last year, and by 185% compared to the first six months of 2021, according to land, property, and real estate data provider ATTOM.
The highest number of foreclosure filings were reported in Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland, while the largest increases in foreclosures occurred in Maryland, Oregon, and Alaska. At a more granular level, some major U.S. metropolitan areas are also reporting especially high foreclosure rates relative to the rest of the country.
According to a recent report from ATTOM, the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro area in Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates of any city in the country. In the first half of 2023, there was about one foreclosure for every 347 homes, the fifth highest foreclosure rate of the 223 metropolitan statistical areas with populations of at least 200,000 considered in the report.
The 897 total foreclosures in the metro area from January to June 2023 represents a 4.2% increase from the same period in 2022.
All data in this story is from the ATTOM report Foreclosure Activity In First Half Of 2023 Ticks Upwards Toward Pre-Covid Levels.
| Rank | Metro area | Foreclosure ratio | Homes in foreclosure, first half of 2023 | 1-yr. change in homes in foreclosure (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | 1 per 301 homes | 3,209 | -17.1 |
| 2 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 1 per 307 homes | 429 | -1.6 |
| 3 | Fayetteville, NC | 1 per 337 homes | 482 | 23.9 |
| 4 | Columbia, SC | 1 per 342 homes | 1,063 | -2.4 |
| 5 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 1 per 347 homes | 897 | 4.2 |
| 6 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 1 per 358 homes | 10,963 | -6.7 |
| 7 | Jacksonville, FL | 1 per 390 homes | 1,741 | 9.9 |
| 8 | Florence, SC | 1 per 391 homes | 230 | 3.1 |
| 9 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 1 per 394 homes | 6,530 | 17.1 |
| 10 | Elkhart-Goshen, IN | 1 per 395 homes | 201 | 24.1 |
| 11 | Spartanburg, SC | 1 per 399 homes | 372 | 13.4 |
| 12 | Peoria, IL | 1 per 405 homes | 414 | 13.4 |
| 13 | Macon, GA | 1 per 419 homes | 247 | 4.2 |
| 14 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 1 per 424 homes | 2,148 | 12.1 |
| 15 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 1 per 428 homes | 2,504 | 15.3 |
| 16 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 1 per 428 homes | 513 | 34.3 |
| 17 | Akron, OH | 1 per 430 homes | 737 | -4.7 |
| 18 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 1 per 431 homes | 2,752 | 92.4 |
| 19 | Ocala, FL | 1 per 435 homes | 403 | 9.8 |
| 20 | Trenton, NJ | 1 per 456 homes | 328 | -6.6 |
| 21 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 1 per 464 homes | 373 | 3.0 |
| 22 | Jacksonville, NC | 1 per 465 homes | 179 | -31.7 |
| 23 | Bakersfield, CA | 1 per 473 homes | 634 | -4.8 |
| 24 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 1 per 474 homes | 3,321 | 12.5 |
| 25 | Canton-Massillon, OH | 1 per 475 homes | 379 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Laredo, TX | 1 per 477 homes | 176 | 16.6 |
| 27 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 1 per 481 homes | 596 | 9.4 |
| 28 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 1 per 486 homes | 332 | 21.2 |
| 29 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 1 per 490 homes | 535 | 7.4 |
| 30 | South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI | 1 per 494 homes | 290 | -6.1 |
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