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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 52 January 2025 J O U R N A L SEASONAL FACTORS HELP MODERATE FORECLOSURE FILINGS A ccording to ATTOM's No- vember 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, approximately 29,390 U.S. homes had foreclosure fil- ings, such as default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions. This represents an estimated 9% decrease from the previous year and a 5% de- crease from the previous month. "The slight decline in U.S. foreclo- sure activity during November most likely ref lects the seasonal ebb we often see this time of year," said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. "While foreclosure filings are down both month over month and year over year, the data highlights areas of the country, such as Nevada, Florida, and Connecticut, where foreclosure rates remain relative- ly high." Which States Have the Highest Foreclosure Rates? In November 2024, there were fore- closure filings in one out of every 4,795 dwelling units nationwide. The states that had the highest foreclosure rates were: • Florida (one in every 3,047 housing units) • Connecticut (one in every 3,210 housing units) • Maryland (one in every 3,535 hous- ing units) • Nevada (one in every 2,941 housing units with a foreclosure filing) • Indiana (one in every 3,567 housing units) In November 2024, the metro statistical regions with the highest foreclosure rates among the 224 having a population of at least 200,000 were: • Modesto, California (one in every 1,890 housing units with a foreclo- sure filing) • Reading, Pennsylvania* (one in every 2,133 housing units) • Bakersfield, California (one in every 2,155 housing units) Default Servicing • Riverside, Califoria (one in every 2,207 housing units) • Chico, California (one in every 2,270 housing units) Note: *Reading, PA's high foreclo- sure rate might be the result of data cor- rection; ATTOM aggregator caught up on instances from October that had not been reported before, thus the increase might be due to backlogs rather than an unexpected spike in foreclosures. As mentioned above, popular California metros lead in the highest foreclosure rates of the population analyzed, which may come as no sur- prise—as the Golden State is notably one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. Greatest Number of Foreclosure Starts Found in Larger U.S. States In November 2024, lenders began the foreclosure process on 20,231 prop- erties in the United States, a decrease of 3% from the previous month and 10% from the previous year. Yet again, the states with the highest number of foreclosures in November 2024 were: • Texas (2,542 foreclosure starts) • Florida (2,438 foreclosure starts) • California (2,239 foreclosure starts) • New York (1,167 foreclosure starts) • Pennsylvania (844 foreclosure starts) In November 2024, the following major metros with a population of one million or more experienced the high- est share of foreclosure starts: • New York (1,184 foreclosure starts) • Houston (969 foreclosure starts) • Miami (768 foreclosure starts) • Philadelphia (723 foreclosure starts) • Los Angeles (641 foreclosure starts) Foreclosure Completions Tick Up From Last Year's Numbers In November 2024, 3,089 U.S. homes were seized by lenders through completed foreclosures (REOs), an