Foreclosure Activity Posts Annual Increase in First Half of 2026

Foreclosure Starts Rise 18%

by ATTOM Team

ATTOM, the leading provider of property data, AI-powered intelligence, and real estate analytics solutions, released its Mid-Year 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 227,548 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in the first six months of 2026. That figure is up 21% from the same time period a year ago and up 28% from the same time period two years ago.

“Foreclosure activity continued to increase in the first half of 2026, but the broader picture remains one of a market that is gradually returning to more typical patterns,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM.

“The combination of rising foreclosure starts, increased foreclosure completions, and shorter timelines points to a continued normalization of the foreclosure process, although the increases also suggest that some homeowners may be facing greater financial strain than they were a year ago.”

Among states with at least 500 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2026, the largest year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity were recorded in:

 »             Idaho (up 59%)

 »             Colorado (up 57%)

 »             Georgia (up 52%)

 »             North Carolina (up 47%)

 »             Mississippi (up 45%)

Florida, South Carolina, and Indiana Report Worst Foreclosure Rates

Nationwide, 0.16% of all housing units (one in every 632) had a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2026.

States with the worst foreclosure rates in the first half of 2026 were:

 »             Florida (0.27% of housing units with a foreclosure filing)

 »             South Carolina (0.26%)

 »             Indiana (0.25%)

 »             Delaware (0.25%)

 »             Illinois (0.23%)

Other states with first-half foreclosure rates among the 10 worst nationwide were:

 »             Nevada (0.22%)

 »             New Jersey (0.22%)

 »             Ohio (0.20%)

 »             Maryland (0.19%)

 »             Utah (0.19%)

Punta Gorda, Lakeland, and Columbia Post Worst Metro Foreclosure Rates

Among the 227 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the worst foreclosure rates in the first half of 2026 were:

 »             Punta Gorda, FL (0.50% of housing units with foreclosure filings)

 »             Lakeland, FL (0.48%)

 »             Columbia, SC (0.43%)

 »             Macon, GA (0.36%)

 »             Fayetteville, NC (0.36%)

Other major metro areas with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 worst in the first half of 2026 were Cape Coral, FL (0.35% of housing units with a foreclosure filing)

 »             Cleveland, OH (0.33%)

 »             Jacksonville, FL (0.31%)

 »             Ocala, FL (0.31%)

 »             Jacksonville, NC (0.31%)

Foreclosure Starts up 18% Annually

A total of 164,566 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first six months of 2026, up 18% from the first half of last year and up 66% from the first half of 2020.

States that saw the greatest number of foreclosure starts in the first half of 2026 included:

 »             Texas (20,739 foreclosure starts)

 »             Florida (20,358 foreclosure starts)

 »             California (16,040 foreclosure starts)

 »             Georgia (8,164 foreclosure starts)

 »             Illinois (7,424 foreclosure starts)

Bank repossessions Up From Year Ago

Lenders foreclosed (REO) on a total of 27,983 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2026, up 33% from the first half of 2025 but down 26% from the first half of 2020.

States that posted the greatest number of REOs in the first half of 2026 included:

 »             Texas (3,322 REOs)

 »             California (2,644 REOs)

 »             Florida (2,070 REOs)

 »             Pennsylvania (1,893 REOs)

 »             Illinois (1,543 REOs)

South Carolina, Florida and Delaware Record Worst Foreclosure Rates in Q2

There were a total of 115,714 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the second quarter of 2026, down 3% from the previous quarter but up 15% from a year ago.

Nationwide one in every 1,242 housing units had a foreclosure filing in Q2 2026. States with the worst foreclosure rates were:

 »             South Carolina (one in every 723 housing units with a foreclosure filing)

 »             Florida (one in every 726 housing units)

 »             Delaware (one in every 805 housing units)

 »             Indiana (one in every 839 housing units)

 »             Nevada (one in every 871 housing units)

June 2026 Foreclosure Activity High-Level Takeaways

Nationwide in June 2026, one in every 3,656 properties had a foreclosure filing.

 »             States with the worst foreclosure rates in June 2026 were Florida (one in every 2,106 housing units with a foreclosure filing); South Carolina (one in every 2,374 housing units); Indiana (one in every 2,377 housing units); Nevada (one in every 2,508 housing units); and Illinois (one in every 2,624 housing units).

 »             26,217 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in June 2026, down 4% from the previous month but up 20% from June 2025.

 »             Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 4,773 U.S. properties in June 2026, up 17% from the previous month and up 23% from June 2025.