Article · Foreclosures
Where Foreclosures Are Rising Fastest in 2026
Foreclosure filings are up 21% nationally, but the states with the highest rates, the biggest increases, and the most activity are three different lists. Here is what the data actually shows.
- 227,548 Properties with foreclosure filings, first half of 2026
- +21% Increase over the first half of 2025
- 563 Average days in foreclosure, shortest since 2013
- +59% Idaho's increase, the largest of any state
Foreclosure activity is climbing. In the first half of 2026, 227,548 properties received a foreclosure filing, up 21% from the same period in 2025 and 28% from 2024.
Ask which states are worst hit and you will get three different answers, all correct, because there are three different questions hiding inside that one.
Three questions, three lists
Which state has the highest rate? Florida. About one in every 373 homes had a filing in the first half of 2026, the highest share in the country, on 27,494 properties. South Carolina and Indiana follow.
Which state is rising fastest? Idaho, up 59% year over year, then Colorado at 57%, Georgia at 52%, North Carolina at 47% and Mississippi at 45%. None of those are on the highest-rate list.
Which state has the most activity? Texas, with 20,739 foreclosure starts, then Florida at 20,358, California at 16,040, Georgia at 8,164 and Illinois at 7,424. Big states have big numbers.
For anyone tracking distressed property, those are not interchangeable. A high rate means a lot of it relative to the housing stock. A big increase means conditions are changing quickly. High volume just means the state is large.
The number almost nobody reports
Buried in the same report is a figure that matters more to a buyer than any of the rankings: how long a foreclosure takes.
Nationally, properties foreclosed in the second quarter of 2026 spent an average of 563 days in the process. That is the shortest since 2013, down 13% from a year earlier.
But the state spread is enormous:
| Fastest states | Days | Slowest states | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 155 | Louisiana | 3,491 |
| New Hampshire | 157 | Hawaii | 2,293 |
| Wyoming | 173 | New York | 2,007 |
| West Virginia | 196 | Connecticut | 1,626 |
| Alaska | 199 | Nevada | 1,507 |
Texas at 155 days and Louisiana at 3,491 is a difference of more than 22 times. That is not a small regional variation. It is the difference between a market where distressed property moves through the system in five months and one where it can sit for the better part of a decade.
The reason is procedure. States that allow foreclosure outside of court move quickly. States that require a court process, and states that layered on additional protections after 2008, move slowly.
For a buyer, that single number shapes everything: how much inventory actually reaches the market, how long a property sits deteriorating before anyone can buy it, and how quickly a distressed situation resolves into something purchasable.
What is driving the increase
Three things stack together.
The pandemic-era protections that suppressed foreclosures for several years have fully unwound. Rates were held at historic lows by moratoriums and loss-mitigation programs, and the current numbers are partly a return toward normal rather than a new crisis. ATTOM’s own framing is that the market is gradually returning to typical patterns.
But there is real strain underneath the normalization. Bank repossessions, the final step, rose 45% year over year in the first quarter, faster than filings overall. Short sales, where an owner sells for less than they owe to avoid foreclosure, rose 16% in the same period. Those are not measures of process. They are measures of people who cannot hold on.
And the geography points at costs rather than jobs. Florida’s surge has been widely linked to insurance premiums and the reversal of pandemic-era price gains. Homes bought at the top of a hot market, carrying insurance and tax bills that have climbed since, are where the pressure shows first.
What this means if you are buying
Rate and increase tell you different things. A high-rate state has steady distressed inventory. A fast-rising state has conditions that are changing, which usually means more supply arriving than the local market is used to.
Timeline determines whether inventory is reachable. A fast state cycles properties to auction and to bank ownership quickly. A slow state can have high filings and very little that is actually purchasable, because everything is stuck in process.
Rising foreclosures do not mean cheap houses. Distressed sales price against local comparables, and in a tight market a foreclosure can sell close to retail. The discount comes from condition and from the seller’s motivation, not from the label.
The condition problem is real. A property in a slow state may have sat vacant for years before it becomes available. Long timelines and deferred maintenance travel together.
The short version
Foreclosures are up 21% nationally through mid-2026, and the increase is broad rather than concentrated.
Florida has the highest rate. Idaho is rising fastest. Texas has the most activity. And Texas, at 155 days from start to finish, moves that inventory to market roughly twenty times faster than Louisiana does.
If the goal is finding distressed property to buy, the timeline column is the one worth reading first.
Frequently asked questions
Which state has the most foreclosures in 2026? By raw activity, Texas leads with 20,739 foreclosure starts in the first half of 2026, followed by Florida, California, Georgia and Illinois. By rate relative to housing stock, Florida is highest at roughly one filing per 373 homes.
Where are foreclosures rising the fastest? Among states with at least 500 filings, Idaho posted the largest year-over-year increase at 59%, followed by Colorado at 57%, Georgia at 52%, North Carolina at 47% and Mississippi at 45%.
Are foreclosures at crisis levels? No. Filings remain well below historical peaks. The 2026 increase is partly the unwinding of pandemic-era protections that held activity at artificial lows, though rising repossessions and short sales indicate genuine financial strain for some owners.
How long does a foreclosure take? Nationally, 563 days on average for properties foreclosed in the second quarter of 2026. By state it ranges from 155 days in Texas to 3,491 days in Louisiana, driven mainly by whether the state requires a court process.
Does a rising foreclosure rate mean home prices will fall? Not necessarily. Foreclosure volume is still low by historical standards, and in most markets distressed inventory is a small share of total supply. Local effects depend on how much reaches the market and how fast.
Where can I see current foreclosure listings? Foreclosure, pre-foreclosure and bank-owned listings are searchable by state and county on our foreclosures page, updated continuously as filings are recorded.
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