In April 2025, lenders initiated the foreclosure process on 25,265 properties, up 0.8% from the prior month and 16.1% higher than a year earlier. States with the highest volume of foreclosure starts included Texas (3,280 foreclosure starts), Florida (2,810), California (2,501), Illinois (1,313), and Ohio (1,135).
Meanwhile, lenders completed foreclosures (REOs) on 3,580 properties, a 2.9% decline from March but a 23.3% increase from April 2024. This marks the second consecutive month of annual growth in completed foreclosures.
Some states, however, bucked the national trend with notable annual declines in REO activity, including: South Carolina (-45.9%), Maryland (-42.5%); Ohio (-22.4%), New York (-17.3%), and New Jersey (-11.5%).
Additional data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.04% in Q1 2025. That’s an increase of six basis points from Q4 2024 and 10 basis points higher than Q1 2024.
The rate of loans entering foreclosure rose by 5 basis points to 0.20%.