The national numbers
A total of 39,906 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing in July 2026, according to ATTOM’s July 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. That’s up 1% from June and up 10% from July of last year, putting the national foreclosure rate at one filing for every 3,603 housing units. Foreclosure starts, the first formal step in the process, rose 10% annually to 26,648, while completed foreclosures, homes that were actually repossessed, jumped 23% year-over-year to 4,764.
Where the pressure is showing up first
Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate in the country at one filing per 1,703 housing units, followed by South Carolina at one per 2,085 and Florida at one per 2,232. In raw numbers, Texas led the nation in foreclosure starts with 3,306, just ahead of Florida’s 3,277 and California’s 2,540, and Texas also led in completed foreclosures with 1,265. At the metro level, Punta Gorda, Florida, had the worst rate in the country at one filing per 899 units, with Killeen, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada, also showing up among the most stressed markets.
ATTOM’s own read on what it means
Rob Barber, ATTOM’s CEO, struck a measured tone in the report rather than an alarmed one. “Financial pressures remain a factor for some homeowners,” Barber said, but he added that “foreclosure activity remains relatively low by historical standards” and that “the market remains relatively resilient overall.” That framing matters: a 10% annual jump sounds dramatic in isolation, but ATTOM’s own data shows the current filing rate is still far below the levels seen during the 2008-2012 foreclosure crisis, when rates were multiples higher.
What’s driving it, according to the coverage
HousingWire’s reporting on the same data points to a straightforward mix of causes: elevated mortgage rates that have made it harder for homeowners already behind to refinance out of trouble, plus the tail end of pandemic-era forbearance protections that are no longer shielding some borrowers. Florida and Texas, both fast-growing states that saw enormous home-buying activity in recent years, are now also carrying more of the foreclosure load as some of those buyers hit financial strain. If you own in one of the metros named here, the filing itself isn’t a foreclosure yet, but the report is a signal that lenders in those areas are moving on delinquent accounts faster than they were a year ago.
What a filing actually means for a homeowner
A foreclosure filing marks the start of a formal legal process, not an eviction notice. Homeowners who receive one still typically have options, including loan modification, forbearance, or selling the property before a lender completes repossession, and ATTOM’s own data shows the gap between filings and completed foreclosures remains wide nationally. For someone in Nevada, South Carolina, or Florida watching their own mortgage payment get harder to make, the report is less a reason to panic than a reason to reach out to a lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor before a missed payment turns into a filing in the first place.
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