Foreclosure filings are rising fast in these 10 U.S. states

For most of the past few years, foreclosure rates stayed quiet across the U.S. The moratoriums and mortgage assistance programs of the pandemic era held back a wave of defaults that might otherwise have crested, and many homeowners who would have struggled found temporary relief. That cushion has eroded. Foreclosure filings have climbed for several consecutive quarters, and the year-over-year jumps in the first quarter of 2026 are large enough that they can no longer be dismissed as a return to seasonal norms.

The acceleration is not confined to states that have historically carried the highest foreclosure burdens. Some of the steepest year-over-year increases are showing up in states where filings were already low. The trend reflects something broader than a regional correction. More than 118,000 properties nationwide carried a foreclosure filing in Q1 2026, up 26% from the same period a year earlier. Bank repossessions — the final stage of that process — rose 45% year over year nationally, and foreclosure starts climbed 20%. Neither figure fits the expected pattern of a market simply returning to equilibrium. For homeowners in the states below, the numbers are moving in a direction that is hard to attribute to anything temporary. Foreclosure starts rose 20% year over year, and bank repossessions climbed 45%. Both numbers exceed the national 12-month norm.

ATTOM, a national property data company, tracked foreclosure filings across all U.S. properties in Q1 2026 and measured year-over-year change by state to identify where activity is growing fastest. The analysis covers filings in all three phases of foreclosure — default notices, auction announcements, and bank repossessions — gathered from more than 3,000 counties representing over 99% of the U.S. population. The 10 states below had the largest year-over-year increases in foreclosure filing rates as measured from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026.

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South Dakota recorded 57 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 185% from Q1 2025. That is the largest year-over-year percentage gain of any state. One in every 7,107 housing units had a filing during the quarter. That rate reflects how small the state's total housing stock is, and how dramatically even modest absolute increases translate into large percentage swings.

The year-over-year increase is striking because the base was so low. When the number of filings nearly triples from a small starting point, the percentage gain is mathematically extreme, but the underlying shift is still real: more South Dakota homeowners entered the foreclosure process in early 2026 than in any comparable recent period. A quarterly increase of 83.87% from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 suggests the acceleration did not begin long ago and is still gathering momentum.

South Dakota's rate of one filing per 7,107 housing units is still far below the national average of one per 1,211. The state remains among the least affected in the country by overall volume. The steepness of the growth curve, however, sets South Dakota apart from every other state. States with small foreclosure populations are more sensitive to small absolute changes, and the trajectory here shows those absolute changes moving sharply upward.

The state had not been exempt from the broader national trend in prior quarters, but Q1 2026 pushed it to an outlier position in terms of percentage growth. That quarterly gain adds weight to the year-over-year figure: the pace of acceleration has not slowed from Q4 to Q1. Whether the state's small size makes that growth a statistical artifact or an early signal of lasting strain, the direction is unambiguous. South Dakota's foreclosure filings rose faster in Q1 2026 than those of any other state measured across the country. The quarterly data shows that pace was still accelerating.

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Georgia posted 4,549 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 77.83% from the same quarter a year earlier. That is the second-highest year-over-year growth rate among all states and one of the largest absolute filing volumes among the top 10. One in every 998 housing units had a foreclosure filing, a rate worse than the national average of one per 1,211.

The state's filings rose 24.09% from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 as well, meaning the acceleration was not simply a favorable prior-year comparison. Atlanta had 2,520 foreclosure starts in Q1 2026, placing it among the largest metro areas nationally for foreclosure activity. The metro's volume alone accounts for more than half of the state's overall foreclosure starts, concentrating the pressure in Georgia's largest housing market.

Georgia's scale distinguishes it from most other states in the top 10. States such as South Dakota and Montana posted larger percentage gains but had far fewer total filings. Georgia's filing count of 4,549 is large enough to register as a meaningful housing stress signal across a broad population, not just a statistical ripple from a small base. The state is home to millions of homeowners, and a filing rate worse than the national average means a proportionally large number of them are in default.

A 77.83% year-over-year increase outpaces the national year-over-year gain of 26% by a substantial margin. Atlanta's prominence in the national foreclosure starts data reflects how deeply the trend has taken hold in the state's core economy. Georgia homeowners are losing ground relative to the country as a whole, and losing it faster than almost anywhere else. Atlanta's 2,520 foreclosure starts in Q1 2026 placed it among the top five metro areas nationally for foreclosure starts, alongside New York, Houston, Chicago, and Dallas. That volume confirms that Georgia's year-over-year increase is not a statistical artifact but a real and widespread pattern.

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Idaho saw 506 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 75.69% from Q1 2025. One in every 1,571 housing units had a filing — a rate worse than the national average — and a modest quarterly increase of 1.40% from Q4 2025 indicates the elevated level has persisted across multiple quarters, not concentrated in a single disruption.

Idaho's position in this list is notable given how consistently the state was seen as a housing market beneficiary during the pandemic period. Home values rose sharply as buyers relocated from higher-cost western metros, and low foreclosure activity accompanied those price gains. The 75.69% year-over-year jump suggests that period of insulation has ended. Homeowners who stretched to buy at peak prices may now be the ones at greatest risk.

The filing count of 506 is small in absolute terms, but the rate of one per 1,571 housing units reflects real pressure on a housing stock that has grown alongside population gains. The state has added residents and housing units in recent years, and the foreclosure rate accounts for that larger base. The percentage increase in filings is not simply a function of more housing units being tracked.

Idaho's 75.69% year-over-year increase places it third nationally in growth rate, and the continued quarterly stability suggests the rate is not an outlier driven by a data irregularity. Foreclosure activity in Idaho has settled at a level measurably higher than it was a year ago. The filing rate of one per 1,571 housing units is well above the national average. Without a clear improvement in affordability, that elevated pace is likely to persist. Idaho has drawn significant in-migration in recent years, adding buyers who may now be carrying debt on homes worth less than what they paid. The state's rapid population growth created demand that pushed prices beyond local income levels, and that gap has left a portion of recent buyers financially exposed.

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Colorado carried 2,092 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 74.04% from Q1 2025. One in every 1,238 housing units had a filing, close to the national average, and a quarterly increase of 14.07% from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 confirms the upward trajectory has continued into the new year.

Bank repossessions in Colorado — the point at which a lender takes back a property after the foreclosure process completes — increased from 99 in Q1 2025 to 321 in Q1 2026. That is a more than threefold rise in completed foreclosures in a single year. REO activity represents the end of the road for homeowners in default, and Colorado's REO count climbing at that pace signals that a meaningful share of the state's foreclosure activity is not being resolved before reaching the final stage.

Colorado's housing market underwent a significant run-up in values during the pandemic period. The Denver metro saw some of the sharpest appreciation in the country, which brought buyers into the market at elevated debt levels. As interest rates climbed and refinancing options narrowed, the financial cushion for distressed homeowners eroded. The REO data suggests that erosion has advanced to the point where lenders are completing the repossession process at a rate that was essentially nonexistent in the state a year ago.

The 74.04% year-over-year rise in overall filings and the jump in REOs from 99 to 321 measure the same pressure from two angles. Filings count homes entering the foreclosure pipeline. REOs count homes that did not make it out. Both are moving in the same direction in Colorado, and both moved sharply higher in the year ending Q1 2026. A quarterly gain of 14.07% on top of a full year of elevated filings suggests the pipeline continues to fill faster than it is being resolved.

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Montana registered 104 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 67.74% from Q1 2025. One in every 5,081 housing units had a filing — a rate well below the national average — and a modest quarterly increase of 2.97% from Q4 2025 reflects gradual acceleration.

Like South Dakota, Montana's small total filing count means percentage changes are amplified by arithmetic. Moving from a very small number of filings to a somewhat larger one produces a large percentage gain that would be unremarkable in a state with tens of thousands of units in foreclosure. The 67.74% increase in Montana describes a market moving from roughly 62 filings to 104, not one experiencing the kind of volume that signals systemic distress across a large population.

What the Montana data does reflect is that the foreclosure trend is geographically broad. The state is among the least dense in the country, with a housing market that attracts a mix of long-term residents, retirees, and buyers who relocated during the pandemic-era migration wave. Homeowners in that last group bought in at elevated prices and may carry mortgage balances that exceed current market values in some submarkets as the broader price correction has progressed.

Montana's foreclosure rate of one per 5,081 units remains far from the states with the most acute problems nationally. But a 67.74% year-over-year gain in filings means the state is no longer operating at a different pace from the national trend. The quarterly increase of 2.97% is small, but it marks continued movement in the same direction. The trajectory has aligned with the broader upward shift visible across the country, even if the absolute level remains low. A quarterly gain of 2.97% is modest, but Montana has now posted consecutive quarters of increasing foreclosure activity, and the year-over-year comparison puts it fifth nationally in growth rate.

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Alaska reported 198 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 66.39% from Q1 2025. One in every 1,615 housing units had a filing, and a 10% quarterly increase from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 shows the momentum has continued from the prior period.

Alaska's housing market operates differently from the contiguous states. Geographic isolation limits labor mobility, and employment conditions are closely tied to industries such as oil, fishing, and government. The foreclosure rate has historically been driven by sector-specific downturns. The 66.39% year-over-year increase is notable against that backdrop because it is large enough to suggest the current period of strain goes beyond a single-sector downturn.

The state's average foreclosure timeline — 192 days, one of the shortest in the country — means the process moves quickly once it begins. A filing in Alaska does not typically sit in legal limbo for years the way it does in states with longer judicial foreclosure processes. The 198 total filings in Q1 2026 therefore represent homes moving through the foreclosure pipeline at a comparatively fast pace, reaching resolution in under seven months on average.

A 10% quarterly gain adds to the picture: the elevated filing rate is not simply a one-quarter rebound from an unusually quiet prior year. A state where foreclosure activity had been suppressed for several years, Alaska saw that suppression break down significantly in the 12 months ending Q1 2026. The 198 total filings represent a 66.39% acceleration from 2025 levels, and the quarterly momentum suggests the new, elevated baseline is not yet stabilizing. Alaska's short average foreclosure timeline of 192 days means the state processes cases faster than almost any other in the country. That speed means the 198 filings in Q1 2026 will reach resolution — whether through reinstatement, sale, or bank repossession — within months. More filings arriving while prior ones are still being resolved compounds the strain visible in the year-over-year figure.

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Arkansas logged 947 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 65.27% from Q1 2025. One in every 1,473 housing units had a filing — a rate worse than the national average — and a quarterly gain of 3.95% indicates steady accumulation.

A state that was already experiencing more foreclosures per housing unit than the national average saw that rate climb by nearly two-thirds over a single year. The 65.27% increase means Arkansas was not just at an elevated level in Q1 2026 but arrived there through a period of sustained acceleration. A filing rate of one per 1,473 units against a national figure of one per 1,211 means Arkansas homeowners are losing ground relative to typical conditions across the country.

Arkansas has a relatively low median home price compared to national figures, which historically has kept foreclosure risk modest by limiting the size of mortgage obligations homeowners carry. Lower-priced markets are not insulated from income shocks, job loss, or rising insurance and property tax costs. Any of those can push homeowners into default regardless of how much they originally borrowed. The 947 filings reflect real individual households losing ground across a state where financial recovery from a default is rarely swift.

The 3.95% gain from Q4 2025 is small in isolation, but it arrived on top of a full year of elevation. Arkansas's year-over-year gain of 65.27% means the Q1 2025 baseline was already lower than what would otherwise seem normal. A state adding foreclosures at that pace annually — even modestly, period after period — is on a trajectory that compounds quickly. Arkansas's foreclosure rate of one per 1,473 housing units is already above the national rate of one per 1,211. That elevated rate built on an already-strained base, meaning each successive period starts from a higher floor than the last.

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Mississippi filed 491 foreclosure cases in Q1 2026, up 64.77% from Q1 2025. One in every 2,731 housing units had a filing — a rate below the national average — but a quarterly gain of 20.94% from Q4 2025 reflects an acceleration that picked up speed even within the most recent quarter.

The 20.94% jump from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 is among the largest single-quarter increases of the states in this list, and it occurred alongside a 64.77% year-over-year gain. The combination means Mississippi's foreclosure activity was not only elevated relative to 2025 but climbed further in the final stretch of the reporting period. Filings arriving in Q1 2026 at a rate 64.77% higher than a year earlier — and 20.94% higher than the prior quarter — signal that the pressure has not stabilized.

Mississippi has some of the highest poverty rates of any state, and its housing market has home values among the lowest in the country. Foreclosure activity in Mississippi does not tend to generate the same dollar-volume headlines as filings in coastal markets, but the 491 filings in Q1 2026 represent a meaningful share of homeowners in a state where relatively few residents are in a financial position to recover quickly from a missed mortgage payment, let alone a full foreclosure proceeding.

The year-over-year growth rate of 64.77% is among the highest in the country, and the 20.94% acceleration from Q4 2025 is striking for a state where the absolute count remains below 500 filings. The direction and pace of change in Mississippi — over the year and within the period — suggest the foreclosure trend there is still building. Mississippi's 20.94% single-period gain is the steepest of any state in this list, indicating the pace of acceleration increased instead of moderating as 2025 gave way to 2026.

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North Carolina entered Q1 2026 with 4,141 foreclosure filings — a 55.79% increase from Q1 2025 — alongside a 29.81% quarterly increase from Q4 2025. One in every 1,182 housing units had a filing, a rate worse than the national average. The state's filings accelerated on both timescales at the same time.

A 55.79% year-over-year gain and a 29.81% quarterly gain in the same reporting period means most of the acceleration happened recently. Many states posting large year-over-year increases built those numbers through gradual accumulation. North Carolina added nearly 30% in a single quarter on top of a year that was already significantly elevated. That pattern — large annual growth compounded by a sharp quarterly jump — suggests the trend is not yet peaking.

Fayetteville, N.C., had one foreclosure filing for every 480 housing units in Q1 2026, placing it among the worst metro-level rates in the country among the 227 metropolitan statistical areas measured. A state-level rate of one per 1,182 already signals stress. A metro rate of one per 480 within that same state indicates the housing market in parts of North Carolina is under substantially greater strain than the statewide figure suggests.

North Carolina's total filing count of 4,141 puts it in the same tier as Georgia in terms of absolute volume, with both states carrying thousands of filings. North Carolina's growth rate of 55.79%, while lower than Georgia's 77.83%, still more than doubles the national year-over-year increase of 26%. The state's quarterly jump of 29.81% is among the highest of any state in this list, reflecting a concentration of new defaults arriving in the most recent quarter. North Carolina's 4,141 total filings represent one in every 1,182 housing units. That rate sits above the national mark at a moment when the national mark is itself rising sharply.

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Oregon tallied 752 foreclosure filings in Q1 2026, up 50.10% from Q1 2025. One in every 2,471 housing units had a filing — below the national average — but the state's 9.62% quarterly decline from Q4 2025 signals that the rate of new filings slowed somewhat in Q1 even as the full-year comparison remains sharply elevated.

Bank repossessions in Oregon increased from 80 in Q1 2025 to 170 in Q1 2026, more than doubling in a single year. REOs represent foreclosures that completed the entire process, meaning the lender took back the property. Oregon's completed foreclosure count more than doubled at the same time the state posted a 50.10% year-over-year gain in total filings. The REO jump is consistent with a market where a large wave of foreclosure filings from 2024 and early 2025 has now worked its way through to completion.

The 9.62% decline from Q4 2025 is worth holding in context: a drop in Q1 2026 relative to the prior period means fewer new filings arrived in the first three months of 2026 than in the final three months of 2025, not that filings fell below year-ago levels. Oregon's Q1 2026 filing total is still 50% higher than it was in Q1 2025. The recent pullback may reflect a market beginning to absorb some of the backlog.

Oregon's rate of one per 2,471 housing units is well below the national rate of one per 1,211, and the state does not appear among those with the worst overall foreclosure rates nationally. The 50.10% year-over-year jump, however, means Oregon has moved from a position of relative insulation to one of meaningful acceleration over a 12-month span. The doubling of completed foreclosures from 80 to 170 — a count of properties where the lender took final possession — is the clearest signal that filings are advancing through the full pipeline, not stalling in early stages.