The U.S. real estate market saw a major jump in foreclosure activity from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025, according to the newly released Foreclosure Market Report from ATTOM, a California-based real estate data service.
The report showed a total of 93,953 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2025, up 11 percent from the previous quarter but down 2 percent from a year ago.
Utah was among the top states for its first-quarter foreclosure starts, up 42 percent. Other states with a notable increase in foreclosure starts were Kansas (117 percent), Delaware (58 percent), Oklahoma (45 percent) and Wyoming (33 percent).
The report also shows a total of 35,890 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in March, up 11 percent from the previous month and up 9 percent from a year ago.
“Following three consecutive quarters of decline, foreclosure activity ticked up in the first quarter of 2025, with notable growth in both starts and completions,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While levels remain below historical averages, the quarterly growth suggests that some homeowners may be starting to feel the pressure of ongoing economic challenges. However, strong home equity positions in many markets continue to help buffer against a more significant spike in distress.”
Major metros with a population of 200,000 or more that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in Q1 included Chicago (3,789 foreclosure starts), New York City (3,566), Houston (3,046), Miami (2,028) and Philadelphia (1,985).
Lenders repossessed 9,691 U.S. properties through foreclosure in the first quarter, up 8 percent from the previous quarter but down 4 percent from a year ago.
The ATTOM 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. Data is collected from more than 3,000 counties nationwide. Those counties account for more than 99 percent of the U.S. population.