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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 66 May 2025 J O U R N A L Servicing Q1 FORECLOSURE AUCTION VOLUME HITS SIX-QUARTER HIGH A uction.com has released its Auction Market Dispatch for the first quarter of 2025, which found completed foreclosure auctions jumped 20% from the prior quarter, and 4% year over year to reach a six-quarter high, led by a January 2025 spike to a 21-month high. While volume may have dipped in February, the month of March closed strong with a 5% annual gain. The Auction Market Dispatch is a quarterly report based on proprietary in- ventory, bidding, pricing, and survey data from Auction.com. The report found that foreclosure auction volume was up across all loan types except for loans insured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Loans insured by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led the way with a 104% annual increase. The VA foreclosure auction spike came after a nationwide foreclosure moratorium on VA loans expired at the end of 2024. The report found that scheduled foreclosure auctions rose 14% from the previous quarter to a five-quarter high. Despite the gains, the total completed auction volume remains at just 49% of its pre-pandemic level. Although foreclosure activity started strong in January, it softened in February and March, keeping the overall Q1 sales rate essentially f lat quarter over quarter and down from a year earlier. Scheduled foreclosure auctions, often an indicator of future volume, climbed 14% quarterly to 60% of pre-pandemic levels, the highest levels reported since Q4 2023. REO supply also rose, up 2% quarterly and 3% annually, reaching a six-quarter high, though still just 39% of pre-pandemic levels. The foreclosure auction sales rates began Q1 on an upswing, reaching an eight-month high in January 2025, up a slight 1% year over year. However, Febru- ary saw demand drop to a 26-month low, with rates falling 7% annually. March 2025 showed a partial recovery but re- mained 7% below prior-year levels. REO (real estate-owned) auction ac- tivity was up modestly from the previous quarter, with bidders per asset increasing by 2%. But year-over-year comparisons re- mained negative across all three months, resulting in a 16% annual decline. Half of the 76 major metro areas analyzed posted year-over-year declines in foreclosure auction demand (sales rate), led by: » Chicago, Illinois (down 16%) » Houston, Texas (down 42%) » Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (down 19%) » St. Louis, Missouri (down 17%) » Atlanta, Georgia (down 14%) On the other end of the spectrum, 37 metro markets posted annual gains, with notable increases reported in: » New York, New York (up 19%) » Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (up 10%) » Detroit, Michigan (up 3%) » Washington, D.C. (up 8%) » Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (up 4%) The top-performing metros in Q1 2025 in terms of foreclosure auction sales rate were: » Richmond, Virginia » Milwaukee, Wisconsin » Hartford, Connecticut » Rockford, Illinois » Providence, Rhode Island The weakest performing metro mar- kets in Q1 2025 included: » Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota » Little Rock, Arkansas » Beaumont, Texas » Corpus Christi, Texas » Mobile, Alabama Price demand—the amount buyers at auction are willing to pay relative to the estimated after-repair value—flat-