Foreclosures are climbing across the United States, with Florida once again emerging as the nation's foreclosure hotspot as more homeowners struggle under the weight of elevated housing costs.

A new report from real estate firm ATTOM found 227,548 US properties received foreclosure filings during the first six months of 2026, a 21 percent increase from the same period a year earlier and 28 percent higher than two years ago.

The filings include default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.

While foreclosure activity remains well below the levels seen during the 2008 housing crash, ATTOM said the latest figures suggest mounting financial pressure on some homeowners as lenders continue working through a more normalized foreclosure process.

'Foreclosure activity continued to increase in the first half of 2026, but the broader picture remains one of a market that is gradually returning to more typical patterns,' said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM.

'The combination of rising foreclosure starts, increased foreclosure completions, and shorter timelines points to a continued normalization of the foreclosure process, although the increases also suggest that some homeowners may be facing greater financial strain than they were a year ago.'

Ben Mizes, president of Clever Real Estate and a licensed real estate agent, said the homeowners facing the greatest risk are those who bought recently, when both home prices and mortgage rates were near their highs.

'We are most concerned with the recent buyers that purchased homes with the elevated costs of both the price of homes and mortgage rates,' Mizes said.

He noted that homeowners who locked in historically low mortgage rates before borrowing costs surged still have an advantage because their monthly mortgage payments remain relatively low. 

But that protection is increasingly being eroded by soaring homeowners insurance premiums, rising property taxes and higher costs of ownership.

Florida posted the highest foreclosure rate in the country during the first half of the year, with one in every 373 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

South Carolina ranked second, with one in every 381 homes affected, followed by Indiana, Delaware and Illinois.

'The combination of rapid increase in the price of homes, insurance problems and rising costs of ownership have made Florida a consistent leader in foreclosures,' Mizes said. 'Even homeowners with affordable mortgages have a hard time due to the high costs of insurance.'

Florida also dominated the list of metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates.

Punta Gorda recorded the worst rate in the nation, followed by Lakeland. Cape Coral, Jacksonville and Ocala also ranked among the country's ten hardest-hit metro areas.

Nationwide, roughly one in every 632 housing units had a foreclosure filing during the first six months of 2026.

The report also found that 164,566 properties entered foreclosure, an 18 percent increase from the first half of last year and 66 percent higher than in the first half of 2020.

Texas recorded the largest number of foreclosure starts with 20,739, narrowly ahead of Florida with 20,358. California, Georgia and Illinois rounded out the top five.

Several states also saw particularly sharp increases in foreclosure activity compared with a year ago. Among states with at least 500 foreclosure filings, Idaho posted the largest annual increase at 59 percent, followed by Colorado at 57 percent, Georgia at 52 percent, North Carolina at 47 percent and Mississippi at 45 percent.

Mizes said Idaho, Colorado and North Carolina all experienced dramatic home price appreciation during the pandemic housing boom, leaving many buyers with little financial cushion.

'Home prices surged and then many buyers entered the market and are now stuck with steep costs associated with home payments and upkeep,' he said. 'Buyers have less budgetary flexibility as a result.'

Banks also repossessed significantly more homes than they did a year ago.

Lenders completed foreclosure proceedings on 27,983 properties during the first half of 2026, up 33 percent from the same period in 2025.

Texas recorded the greatest number of bank repossessions, followed by California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

At the same time, foreclosures are moving through the legal system faster than they have in more than a decade.

Homes foreclosed during the second quarter spent an average of 563 days in the foreclosure process, the shortest timeline since 2013 and 13 percent less than a year ago.

Texas had the fastest foreclosure timeline, averaging just 155 days, while Louisiana had the slowest at 3,491 days, or nearly ten years.

The second quarter showed a similar pattern.

ATTOM reported 115,714 properties received foreclosure filings between April and June, down three percent from the previous quarter but still 15 percent higher than a year earlier.

In June alone, foreclosure starts were down four percent from May but remained 20 percent above June 2025 levels, while completed foreclosures rose 23 percent year over year.

Mizes said the uptick in foreclosures should not be interpreted as a sign the housing market is on the verge of another collapse.

'Foreclosure rates are not the result of market fractures, but are increasing because buyers are burdened with the cumulative effect of rising costs,' he said. 'Many buyers now live on the financial edge.'

Although foreclosure activity continues to climb, it remains far below the levels recorded during the Great Recession, when millions of Americans lost their homes. 

Today's homeowners generally have far more equity than borrowers did before the housing crash, allowing many distressed owners to sell before reaching foreclosure.