There were 30,674 properties with foreclosure filings in April, according to ATTOM’s April 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. That’s down 8 percent month-over-month but up 160 percent year-over-year.
Nationwide, one in every 4,580 housing units had a foreclosure filing in April. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Illinois (one in every 2,241 housing units), New Jersey (one in every 2,292), Ohio (one in every 2,585), Indiana (one in every 2,660), and Nevada (one in every 3,043).
Among the 223 metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 that ATTOM studied, those with the highest foreclosure rates in April were Greeley, Colo. (one in every 1,237 housing units), Cleveland (one in every 1,326), Elkhart, Ind., (one in every 1,531), Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 1,639), and Chicago (one in every 1,851).
Those metro areas with a population greater than 1 million with the worst foreclosure rates, aside from Cleveland and Chicago, were Philadelphia (one in every 2,196 housing units), Indianapolis (one in every 2,268), and Riverside, Calif. (one in every 2,366).
Counter to the national trend, states that saw the greatest monthly increases in foreclosure starts in April included Massachusetts (up 133 percent), Colorado (up 95 percent), Minnesota (up 59 percent), Indiana (up 39 percent) and Washington (up 24 percent).
“The extreme difference between foreclosure starts and foreclosure completions in April might be the beginning of a trend,” ATTOM Executive Vice President of Market Intelligence Rick Sharga said in a release. “Record levels of homeowner equity should provide financially distressed homeowners the opportunity to sell their homes prior to a foreclosure auction, meaning we should continue to see fewer foreclosure completions. While it may take several months to determine if this is actually what’s happening, it seems like a real possibility in today’s low supply/high demand housing market.”
Lenders repossessed 2,830 properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in April, down 36 percent from March but up 82 percent from last year.
The states that had the greatest number of REOs in April included Illinois (417), Pennsylvania (266), Michigan (187), Ohio (150) and California (148).
Major metro areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in April included Chicago (347), Philadelphia (149), New York (128), Detroit (64) and St. Louis (53).