U.S. Year Over Year Foreclosure Activity Rises For Sixth Straight Month In August

Foreclosure Starts Increase 17% from Last Year; Completed Foreclosures Increase 41% 

IRVINE, Calif. — September 11, 2025 —ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its August 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 35,697 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings— default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — down 1 percent from a month ago but up 18 percent from a year ago.

“August marked the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in U.S. foreclosure activity and the third straight month with double-digit annual growth,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While overall levels remain below those seen before the pandemic, the ongoing rise in both foreclosure starts and completions suggests that some homeowners may be experiencing added financial strain in the current high-cost and high-interest-rate environment.”

The worst foreclosure rates were in Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida

Nationwide, one in every 3,987 housing units had a foreclosure filing in August 2025. States with the worst foreclosure rates were Nevada (one in every 2,069 housing units with a foreclosure filing); South Carolina (one in every 2,152 housing units); Florida (one in every 2,512 housing units).

Among the 225 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the worst foreclosure rates in August 2025 were Lakeland, FL (one in every 1,212 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Columbia, SC (one in every 1,347 housing units); Chico, CA (one in every 1,545 housing units); Cleveland, OH (one in every 1,755 housing units); and Ocala, FL (one in every 1,816 housing units).

Those major metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million with the worst foreclosure rates in August 2025 besides Cleveland were: Las Vegas, NV (one in every 1,817 housing units); Jacksonville, FL (one in every 2,057 housing units); Houston, TX (one in every 2,195 housing units); and Orlando, FL (one in every 2,210 housing units).

Texas, Florida, and California led the nation in foreclosure starts

Lenders started the foreclosure process on 24,254 U.S. properties in August 2025, down slightly at 0.2 percent from last month but up 16.9 percent from a year ago.

States that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in August 2025 included: Texas (2,982 foreclosure starts); Florida (2,803 foreclosure starts); California (2,558 foreclosure starts); New York (1,207 foreclosure starts); and Illinois (1,170 foreclosure starts).

Those major metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in August 2025 included: New York, NY (1,431 foreclosure starts); Houston, TX (1,178 foreclosure starts); Chicago, IL (1,009 foreclosure starts); Los Angeles, CA (862 foreclosure starts); and Miami, FL (748 foreclosure starts).

Foreclosure completions up from same time last year

Lenders repossessed 4,077 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in August 2025, an increase of 5 percent from last month and an increase of 41 percent from last year.

States that had the greatest number of REOs in August 2025, included: Texas (476 REOs); California (343 REOs); New York (319 REOs); Florida (276 REOs); and Illinois (232 REOs).

Those major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in August 2025 included: Chicago, IL (159 REOs); New York, NY (137 REOs); Houston, TX (109 REOs); San Antonio, TX (96 REOs); and Dallas, TX (79 REOs).

Conclusion

The August 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report reveals a continued upward trend in foreclosure activity, marking the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth and the third straight month of double-digit increases. A total of 35,697 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings during the month, representing an 18% increase compared to August 2024, despite a slight 1% decline from July 2025.  Both key components of foreclosure activity rose year over year: foreclosure starts jumped 17% to over 24,000 filings, while completed foreclosures (REOs) surged 41%, totaling more than 4,000 nationwide.  Despite remaining below pre-pandemic levels, the persistent rise in both foreclosure starts and completions may signal increasing financial strain for some homeowners amid elevated home prices and interest rates. 

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Report methodology

The ATTOM U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the ATTOM Data Warehouse during the month and quarter. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the quarter may have been recorded in the previous quarter. Data is collected from more than 3,000 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 99 percent of the U.S. population. ATTOM’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). For the annual, midyear and quarterly reports, if more than one type of foreclosure document is received for a property during the timeframe, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The annual, midyear, quarterly and monthly reports all check if the same type of document was filed against a property previously. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located, the report does not count the property in the current year, quarter or month.

About ATTOM

ATTOM powers innovation across industries with premium property data and analytics covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our multi-sourced real estate data includes property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, neighborhood and geospatial boundary information, all validated through a rigorous 20-step process and linked by a unique ATTOM ID.

From flexible delivery solutions—such as Property Data APIs, Bulk File Licenses, Cloud Delivery, Real Estate Market Trends—to AI-Ready datasets, ATTOM fuels smarter decision-making across industries including real estate, mortgage, insurance, government, and more.

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Megan Hunt
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