Foreclosures Continued To Rise In The Third Quarter

There were 72,317 foreclosure starts nationwide in the third quarter, an increase of 2% compared with the second quarter and up 16% compared with year ago, according to ATTOM’s latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

States that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in third quarter included Texas (9,736), Florida (8,909), California (7,862), Illinois (3,515) and New York (3,234).

Major cities with a population of 200,000 or more that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts for the quarter included Houston (3,763); New York (3,452), Chicago (3,144), Miami (2,502); and Los Angeles (2,321).

About 101,000 residential properties saw foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – during the third quarter, an increase of 1% compared with the second quarter and up 17% compared with a year ago.

Looking just at September, a total of 35,602 U.S. properties saw foreclosure filings during the month, down 0.3% compared with August – but up 20% from a year ago.

“In 2025, we’ve seen a consistent pattern of foreclosure activity trending higher, with both starts and completions posting year-over-year increases for consecutive quarters,” says Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, in the report. “While these figures remain within a historically reasonable range, the persistence of this trend could be an early indicator of emerging borrower strain in some areas.”

Lenders repossessed 11,723 U.S. properties through foreclosure (REO) in the third quarter, an increase of 4% compared with the third quarter and up 33% from a year ago, according to ATTOM’s data.

States that had the greatest number of REOs in the third quarter included Texas (1,288); California (1,132); Florida (762); Pennsylvania (708); and New York (644).

The report also shows that the average time to foreclose has decreased 25% from last year.

Photo: Matthew Moloney