Thousands of Americans lose their homes

Thousands of homes were foreclosed on in April and the repossessions increased from the prior month, though the numbers were a tad lower than where they were at the same time a year ago, data analytics firm ATTOM revealed.

Lenders took over about 2,900 properties last month, a jump of 8 percent from March. Compared to a year ago, the repossessions were 1 percent lower.

Illinois had the largest number of what ATTOM described as completed foreclosures at 244, followed by Pennsylvania at 241. California reported 233, while New York had 225 and Maryland 200.

For cities with a population of at least 200,000, New York and Chicago led the way, followed by Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

The Context

At the national level, there were nearly 32,000 homes that filed for foreclosures. ATTOM’s forward-looking category of foreclosure filings, which constitutes default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions, was down 4 percent on a monthly and a yearly basis.

Meanwhile, foreclosure starts, which captures data on when lenders begin the process of repossession, they were down 7 percent last month from March and fell 3 percent from the same time a year ago.

Maryland had the highest rate of foreclosure filing, with one out every about 2,550 homes. For cities with a population of more than a million, Baltimore performed the worst with one out of every about 2,100 properties.

New Jersey saw a decline of 51 percent in foreclosure starts in April, followed by Indiana at 32. Colorado reported a decrease in foreclosure starts of 31 percent while Massachusetts fell 21 percent and Connecticut 20 percent.

Views

“April’s foreclosure numbers highlight a mixed landscape in the U.S. housing market,” Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, said in a statement.

“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.”

What’s Next

Analysts said that the U.S. economy has shown resilience and is expected to continue growing, which may keep foreclosures low. Any shifts on that front may lead to an uptick in foreclosures.

“Foreclosure activity is still only at about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels…and isn’t likely to be back to 2019 numbers until sometime in mid-to-late 2024,” Rick Sharga, founder and CEO of market intelligence firm CJ Patrick Company, told Forbes in March.