Foreclosures

With proposed tariffs on homebuilding materials working looming and a cloudy forecast for mortgage rates, young homebuyers are facing increased volatility.

Foreclosure filings increased 7% in January from December, which could be a housing market starting to experience trouble, or a post-holiday return to normal.

Completed foreclosure auctions should be 8% lower this year, but if home value and unemployment expectations change, all bets are off, Auction.com said.

Only some of the increase compared with October can be attributed to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as annual rates have increased six months in a row, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

For the fourth month in a row, overall mortgage delinquency rates have increased, with loans 30 days or more late up 0.2 percentage points in September.

Delinquent borrowers in areas hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton will get a few additional months to find solutions before servicers can resume legal actions.

Serious mortgage delinquencies are at their highest since May 2023, and early payment default activity is also a concern, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

Just because millions of empty properties are located in U.S. cities, it doesn't counter the fact that an inventory shortage exists, or fix it, LendingTree said.

Property insurance and taxes account for over one-third of current loan performance risk, according to Auction.com's recent survey of default servicing leaders.

On the whole, foreclosure times are back where they were before the pandemic, but in one state the average is over 10 years, according to Attom's latest data.