Foreclosure Headlines

Foreclosures are skyrocketing! No, they aren’t. Recent headlines have blared about foreclosures up over 500% in December. While true, it’s just clickbait. The number of foreclosure starts across the country in December was 26,900. That’s right, less than 27,000 across the entire nation. Because many states still had foreclosure moratoriums in place in December 2021, the percent increase is huge, but the number isn’t. In fact, compared to pre-pandemic levels, that number is down 30%. Serious delinquencies, the final step before foreclosure, were down 42% across the country compared to the year prior. So, please, don’t believe the blaring headlines about foreclosures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, while prices have declined over the past nine months, this is not a 2008 repeat.