U.S. Foreclosure Activity in October 2019 Climbs
ATTOM Data Solutions’ October 2019 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a total of 55,197 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions—in October 2019, up 13% from the previous month but down 17% from a year ago.
Lenders repossessed 13,484 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in October 2019, up 14% from last month, hitting the highest point in total number of completed foreclosures in 2019.
States that saw the greatest number in REOs in October 2019 included Florida (1,493 REOs), Texas (912 REOs), Michigan (890 REOs), California (824 REOs) and Illinois (805 REOs).
Nationwide one in every 2,453 housing units had a foreclosure filing in October 2019. States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in every 1,316 housing units), Illinois (one in every 1,336 housing units), Maryland (one in every 1,484 housing units), South Carolina (one in every 1,534 housing units) and Florida (one in every 1,571 housing units).
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 28,667 U.S. properties in October 2019, up 17% from last month but down 1% from a year ago—the first double-digit month-over-month increase since February 2018. Counter to the national trend, 13 states, including Washington, D.C., posted month-over-month decreases in foreclosure starts in October 2019. Those states included Maryland (down 42%), Idaho (down 36%), Delaware (down 32%), Nebraska (down 26%) and Utah (
