IRVINE, Calif. – November 10, 2020 —ATTOM Data Solutions, licensor of the nation’s most comprehensive foreclosure data and parent company to RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), a foreclosure listings portal, today released its October 2020 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 11,673 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in October 2020, up 20 percent from a month ago but down 79 percent from a year ago.

“It’s a little surprising to see foreclosure activity increasing in spite of the various foreclosure moratoria that are in place,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Data Solutions company. “It’s likely that many of these properties were already in the early stages of default prior to the pandemic, or are vacant and abandoned, which makes them candidates for expedited foreclosure actions.”

South Carolina, Nebraska and Alabama post highest state foreclosure rates
Nationwide one in every 11,683 housing units had a foreclosure filing in October 2020. States with the highest foreclosure rates were South Carolina (one in every 6,133 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Nebraska (one in every 6,246 housing units); Alabama (one in every 6,660 housing units); Louisiana (one in every 7,078 housing units); and Florida (one in every 7,208 housing units).

Among the 220 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in October 2020 were Peoria, IL (one in every 1,543 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Champaign, IL (one in every 1,674 housing units); Beaumont, TX (one in every 1,880 housing units); Birmingham, AL (one in every 1,993 housing units); and Houma, LA (one in every 2,964 housing units).