Foreclosure Activity Nationwide Shows Slight Decline In April – NMP Skip to main content

Foreclosure Activity Nationwide Shows Slight Decline In April

May 15, 2024
foreclosure
Staff Writer

Foreclosure starts decreased 7% from last month and completed foreclosures increased 8% from last month

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • One in every 4,453 housing units nationwide had a foreclosure filing in April 2024.
  • Maryland was the state with the highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 2,214 housing units with a foreclosure filing.

ATTOM's April 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows there were a total of 31,649 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — down 4% from a month ago and down 4% from a year ago.

“April’s foreclosure numbers highlight a mixed landscape in the U.S. housing market,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While there is a general downtrend in foreclosure starts and filings, we have also seen an increase in completed foreclosures. This mixed activity underscores the importance of closely monitoring these developments to understand the ongoing dynamics in the real estate market.”

Nationwide, one in every 4,453 housing units had a foreclosure filing in April 2024. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Maryland (one in every 2,214 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Illinois (one in every 2,517 housing units); Nevada (one in every 2,546 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 2,573 housing units); and Florida (one in every 2,854 housing units).

Among the 224 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in April 2024 were Elkhart, Ind. (one in every 1,565 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Columbia, S.C. (one in every 1,689 housing units); Cleveland, Ohio (one in every 1,859 housing units); Lakeland, Fla. (one in every 1,861 housing units); and Flint, Mich. (one in every 1,998 housing units).

Lenders started the foreclosure process on 21,753 U.S. properties in April 2024, down 7% from last month and down 3% year over year.

States that had at least 100 foreclosure starts in April 2024 and saw the greatest monthly decline included: New Jersey (down 51%); Indiana (down 32%); Colorado (down 31%); Massachusetts (down 21%); and Connecticut (down 20%).

The top three states that had at least 100 foreclosure starts in April 2024 and saw the greatest monthly increase included: Maryland (up 85%); Oregon (up 80%); and Oklahoma (up 65%).

Lenders repossessed 2,904 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in April 2024, up 8% from last month but down less than 1% from last year.

Those states that had the greatest number of REOs in April 2024 included: Illinois (244 REOs); Pennsylvania (241 REOs); California (233 REOs); New York (225 REOs); and Maryland (200 REOs).

About the author
Staff Writer
Sarah Wolak is a staff writer at NMP.
Published
May 15, 2024
New-Home Mortgage Demand Slips Despite Widespread Builder Incentives

Applications fell 5.7% annually in July, while government-backed mortgages accounted for half of builder-affiliated loan volume

Aug 21, 2026
Fannie Mae Returns To Distressed-Loan Market With $214 Million Sale

The agency’s first nonperforming-loan offering in 13 months transfers 969 deeply delinquent mortgages to private buyers, including a small pool concentrated in Dallas-Fort Worth

Aug 20, 2026
Summer Rate Spike Knocks Pending Home Sales To Six-Month Low

Contract signings fell in every region during July, leaving purchase activity 30% below its 2019 level despite a larger workforce

Aug 19, 2026
Cash Sales Retreat, Giving Financed Buyers More Room To Compete

Cash transactions fell faster than the broader housing market in early 2026, but buyers without financing still accounted for nearly one-third of home sales

Aug 19, 2026
Mortgage Delinquencies Ease, But FHA Distress Keeps Deepening

Overall delinquencies dipped in the second quarter, but FHA serious delinquencies jumped 227 basis points from a year earlier as more troubled loans moved toward foreclosure

Aug 18, 2026
Credit-Score Choice Is Becoming Part Of The Mortgage Sales Pitch

One-third of consumers say they would consider switching lenders over older scoring models, making underwriting technology a potential borrower-retention issue

Aug 18, 2026