The London Daily Mail headline on Nov. 13 plays up the devolving home mortgage situation in the United States: “Foreclosures Surge 20% as Americans Struggle To Pay Mortgages—and Fears of 2008-Style Crash Soar.” The paper reports that “New data from ATTOM [a real estate data firm] show more homeowners falling behind on their mortgages amid job losses and soaring living costs. In October alone, there were 36,766 foreclosure filings—the first step in the process, when a lender warns a borrower they’re in default. That’s up 3% from September and 19% from a year ago. ‘Foreclosure activity continued its steady upward trend in October—the eighth straight month of year-over-year increases,’ said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber. The rise is stirring uncomfortable memories of 2008, when a wave of foreclosures triggered the worst housing crash in modern U.S. history.”
The article points out that the extensive bubble in adjustable-rate subprime mortgages that drove the 2008 crash is not the same today, but notes that, “Today’s homeowners have safer loans, but experts warn that high borrowing costs, soaring insurance premiums, and dwindling savings could again push struggling families into default….
“ATTOM’s report found lenders formally started foreclosure proceedings on 25,129 homes in October—up 6% from last month and 20% from 2024. Another 3,872 homes were fully repossessed, a 2% monthly rise and a 32% jump year-over-year.”
The states in the worst shape are Florida (1 in every 1,829 housing units with a foreclosure filing), South Carolina (1 in every 1,982), Illinois (1 in every 2,570), Delaware (1 in every 2,710), and Nevada (1 in every 2,747). “Among metro areas with populations of a million or more, Tampa [Florida] posted the highest foreclosure rate at 1 in every 1,373 housing units. Following Tampa were Jacksonville (1 in every 1,576 housing units), Orlando (1 in every 1,703), Riverside (1 in every 1,983), and Cleveland (1 in every 2,114).”
