Foreclosure Starts Increase 14 Percent Year Over Year; Completed Foreclosures (REOs) Up 35 Percent from a Year Ago

IRVINE, Calif., March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, the leading provider of property data, AI-powered analytics, and real estate intelligence solutions, today released its February 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 38,840 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings— default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — down 4 percent from a month ago and up 20 percent from a year ago.

"Foreclosure activity in February marked the twelfth consecutive month of annual increases, extending a gradual upward trend that began early last year," said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. "While filings dipped slightly from January, both foreclosure starts and completed foreclosures remain higher than a year ago. Even with the continued rise, overall foreclosure levels remain well below historic norms."

Indiana, South Carolina, and Florida lead the nation in worst foreclosure rates
Across the nation, one in every 3,701 housing units had a foreclosure filing in February 2026. States with the worst foreclosure rates were Indiana (one in every 1,597 housing units with a foreclosure filing); South Carolina (one in every 2,217 housing units); Florida (one in every 2,277 housing units); Delaware (one in every 2,443 housing units); and Illinois (one in every 2,590 housing units). 

Among metro areas with populations of 200,000 or more, Lakeland, FL recorded the worst foreclosure rate in February 2026, with one filing for every 1,075 housing units. Following Lakeland were Punta Gorda, FL (one in every 1,211 housing units); Indianapolis, IN (one in every 1,249); Evansville, IN (one in every 1,316); and Columbia, SC (one in every 1,433).

Texas, Florida, and California recorded the most foreclosure starts nationwide
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 25,928 U.S. properties in February 2026, down 2 percent from last month but up 14 percent from a year ago.

States that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in January 2026 included: Texas (3,390 foreclosure starts); Florida (3,250 foreclosure starts); California (2,440 foreclosure starts); Georgia (1,331 foreclosure starts); and Indiana (1,197 foreclosure starts).

Contrary to the national numbers, those major metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million that had the largest year-over-year decreases in the number of foreclosure starts in February 2026 included: Tucson, AZ (decrease from 115 foreclosure starts in February 2025 to 24 in February 2026); New Orleans, LA (decrease from 146 to 55 foreclosure starts); Buffalo, NY (decrease from 88 to 57 foreclosure starts); Philadelphia, PA (decrease from 743 to 482 foreclosure starts); and Minneapolis, MN (decrease from 218 to 143 foreclosure starts).

Annual increase in completed foreclosures continues
In February 2026, Lenders repossessed 4,077 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs), a decrease of 14 percent from last month and an increase of 35 percent from last year.

States that had the greatest number of REOs in February 2026, included: Texas (453 REOs); Michigan (432 REOs); Florida (364 REOs); California (335 REOs); and Pennsylvania (234 REOs).

Contrary to the national trend, those major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population greater than 1 million and at least 20 REO's that saw the greatest annual decline in the number of REOs in February 2026 included: St. Louis (decrease from 91 REO's in February 2025 to 53 in February 2026); Baltimore, MD (decrease from 74 to 59 REO's); Chicago, IL (decrease from 154 to 132 REO's); Riverside, CA (decrease from 58 to 53 REO's); and New Orleans, LA (decrease from 39 to 36 REO's).

Key highlights from the February 2026 foreclosure data
ATTOM's February 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows 38,840 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing, down 4 percent from January but up 20 percent from a year ago, marking the twelfth consecutive month of annual increases. Foreclosure starts rose 14 percent year over year to 25,928, while completed foreclosures increased 35 percent annually to 4,077, reflecting a continued gradual normalization of foreclosure activity in early 2026.

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 delivers AI-driven property intelligence built on one of the nation's most trusted property data assets, covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our engineered, multi-sourced real estate data spans property tax, deeds, mortgages, foreclosure, environmental risk, property conditions, natural hazards, neighborhood insights, and geospatial boundaries, rigorously validated for advanced analytics. ATTOM supports analytics and AI-driven applications through flexible delivery options including APIs, bulk licensing, cloud delivery, market trend products, and the MCP Server for AI-powered, agentic access to engineered property data—enabling organizations to automate analysis and scale property intelligence across industries.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com

Data and Report Licensing:
949.502.8313
datareports@attomdata.com

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SOURCE ATTOM