US home foreclosures rise 26% YoY in Q1 2026, highest level in six years

The American housing market just flashed a warning signal that hasn’t been this bright since the early pandemic era. Foreclosure filings hit 118,727 properties in the first quarter of 2026, a 26% jump from the same period a year ago and the highest quarterly total since 2020.

The data comes from ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q1 2026 US Foreclosure Market Report, published on April 16. Beyond the headline number, the underlying trends paint an even more uncomfortable picture for certain pockets of the market.

The numbers behind the surge

Foreclosure starts, the initial legal filings that kick off the process, reached 82,631 in Q1. That’s a 20% increase compared to a year earlier.

But the sharpest spike came in completed foreclosures. Bank-owned real estate repossessions, known as REOs, totaled 14,020 for the quarter. That represents a 45% year-over-year increase, meaning lenders are not just filing more paperwork but actually taking back more homes.

Quarter-over-quarter, total filings rose 6%, suggesting the acceleration isn’t just a seasonal quirk but a building trend across multiple reporting periods.

Nationally, the filing rate works out to one foreclosure filing for every 1,211 housing units. That’s notable, but it’s worth keeping in perspective. During the 2008 financial crisis, foreclosure activity was operating on an entirely different scale. Current levels remain substantially below those peaks.

Where it’s hitting hardest

Indiana leads the nation with the highest foreclosure rate, recording one filing for every 739 housing units. South Carolina and Florida round out the top three.

What’s driving the increase

ATTOM CEO Rob Barber indicated that financial pressures may be escalating for some homeowners. The report pointed to several converging forces squeezing household finances.

Rising property taxes top the list. As home values climbed over the past several years, tax assessments followed. Insurance costs have become another major factor, with homeowners in disaster-prone states, particularly Florida, watching their annual premiums double or even triple in recent years. Homeowner association fees and general cost-of-living increases add further pressure.

There’s also a structural factor at play: tightening timelines for foreclosure processes. During and after the pandemic, courts worked through massive backlogs and various moratoriums delayed filings. As those protective buffers have fully expired and processing times normalize, filings that might have been spread across multiple quarters are now flowing through the system more efficiently.

What this means for investors

The US housing market went through an extraordinarily long period of suppressed foreclosure activity following pandemic-era protections. Mortgage forbearance programs, eviction moratoriums, and government stimulus collectively pushed foreclosure numbers to historic lows. What we’re witnessing now is partly a normalization from those artificially depressed levels.

That said, a 45% surge in bank repossessions is not something to wave away. Completed foreclosures represent real families losing homes and real inventory potentially hitting local markets. For distressed-asset investors, this creates opportunities to acquire properties below market value, particularly in states like Indiana and Florida where activity is concentrated.

The ATTOM report drew no lines between foreclosure trends and digital assets or tokenization projects.

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