Special Report

Big Cities With the Worst Foreclosure Rates This Year

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Low mortgage interest rates, pandemic-related stimulus checks, and an increased demand for work-at-home space in the suburbs have supported a boom in housing demand over the past couple of years. (Check the mortgage rate in America every year since 1972.)

Now that demand appears to be subsiding, in part because of rising interest rates, home foreclosures seem to be returning to pre-pandemic levels, aided by the end of state and federal pandemic-era foreclosure moratoriums.

To determine the big cities or metropolitan statistical areas (a measure used by the U.S. Census to define larger urban zones that in some cases overlap state lines) whose foreclosure rates are above the national average, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the Midyear 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report published by ATTOM, a curator of real estate data. (Median home value and MSA populations are five-year data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2020.

According to the report, nationwide foreclosure filings were up 153% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, though they are still slightly lower than they were in the first half of 2020.

About one in every 854 properties was in foreclosure in the first six months of 2022, with some states reporting rates as high as one in 354 (Illinois) and one in 410 (New Jersey). These are the states with the most foreclosures so far this year.

The rates in two MSAs were higher, led by the Cleveland-Elyria metro area in Ohio with one in 250 properties in foreclosure, followed by the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area of Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin with one in 336 properties. California and Florida each have four big cities or MSAs among the 30 with the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. 

Click here to see the big cities with the most foreclosures so far this year.

Population size is widely distributed among these high-foreclosure areas. Eight cities or MSAs on this list have populations below two million, including Fresno with a population of about a million residents, while nine have populations above four million, including New York and Los Angeles, the country’s two largest metro areas.

Ohio’s Columbus and Cleveland-Elyria MSAs have the lowest median home prices of the places on this list. The median home in these areas is priced below $160,000. Eleven big cities on this list have median home prices below $200,000. (These are the cities with the lowest housing costs.)

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30. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/988 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 4,781 – #5 highest
> Housing units: 4,721,766 – #2 highest
> Median home value: $641,300 – #6 highest
> Population: 13,200,998

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29. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
> Foreclosure rate: 1/932 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,621 – #18 highest
> Housing units: 1,510,283 – #16 highest
> Median home value: $271,600 – #47 highest
> Population: 3,705,097

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28. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
> Foreclosure rate: 1/918 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,196 – #25 highest
> Housing units: 1,098,329 – #23 highest
> Median home value: $216,700 – #86 highest
> Population: 2,638,274

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27. Tucson, AZ
> Foreclosure rate: 1/902 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 521 – #53 highest
> Housing units: 470,132 – #51 highest
> Median home value: $199,400 – #99 highest
> Population: 1,043,433

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26. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
> Foreclosure rate: 1/832 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,430 – #22 highest
> Housing units: 1,190,095 – #21 highest
> Median home value: $307,200 – #33 highest
> Population: 2,844,510

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25. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
> Foreclosure rate: 1/796 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 656 – #44 highest
> Housing units: 522,472 – #48 highest
> Median home value: $242,900 – #67 highest
> Population: 1,213,531

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24. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
> Foreclosure rate: 1/794 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 3,450 – #8 highest
> Housing units: 2,740,182 – #5 highest
> Median home value: $208,100 – #92 highest
> Population: 7,122,240

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23. Columbus, OH
> Foreclosure rate: 1/793 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,137 – #27 highest
> Housing units: 902,082 – #33 highest
> Median home value: $146,300 – #170 highest
> Population: 2,138,926

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22. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/789 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,183 – #26 highest
> Housing units: 933,562 – #31 highest
> Median home value: $373,000 – #24 highest
> Population: 2,397,382

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21. Birmingham-Hoover, AL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/782 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 662 – #43 highest
> Housing units: 517,799 – #49 highest
> Median home value: $171,400 – #133 highest
> Population: 1,180,631

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20. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/765 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 3,156 – #9 highest
> Housing units: 2,414,292 – #9 highest
> Median home value: $233,700 – #72 highest
> Population: 6,089,815

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19. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/758 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 10,887 – #2 highest
> Housing units: 8,251,272 – #1 highest
> Median home value: $465,400 – #15 highest
> Population: 20,837,691

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18. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
> Foreclosure rate: 1/729 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,021 – #32 highest
> Housing units: 744,347 – #36 highest
> Median home value: $253,800 – #55 highest
> Population: 1,763,143

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17. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
> Foreclosure rate: 1/727 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,397 – #24 highest
> Housing units: 1,015,678 – #26 highest
> Median home value: $183,000 – #118 highest
> Population: 2,558,143

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16. St. Louis, MO-IL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/672 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,873 – #16 highest
> Housing units: 1,258,862 – #18 highest
> Median home value: $161,100 – #143 highest
> Population: 2,820,253

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15. Fresno, CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/657 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 515 – #55 highest
> Housing units: 338,441 – #71 highest
> Median home value: $271,000 – #48 highest
> Population: 1,008,654

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14. Tulsa, OK
> Foreclosure rate: 1/650 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 673 – #41 highest
> Housing units: 437,257 – #54 highest
> Median home value: $160,700 – #144 highest
> Population: 1,015,331

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13. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
> Foreclosure rate: 1/649 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,460 – #21 highest
> Housing units: 947,819 – #28 highest
> Median home value: $175,300 – #129 highest
> Population: 2,234,099

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12. Oklahoma City, OK
> Foreclosure rate: 1/606 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,003 – #33 highest
> Housing units: 607,725 – #41 highest
> Median home value: $162,600 – #140 highest
> Population: 1,425,695

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11. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
> Foreclosure rate: 1/576 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,550 – #20 highest
> Housing units: 893,492 – #34 highest
> Median home value: $172,300 – #131 highest
> Population: 2,111,040

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10. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/554 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 2,643 – #11 highest
> Housing units: 1,465,158 – #17 highest
> Median home value: $210,900 – #90 highest
> Population: 3,175,275

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9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1/535 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 2,953 – #10 highest
> Housing units: 1,580,448 – #15 highest
> Median home value: $360,100 – #27 highest
> Population: 4,599,839

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8. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
> Foreclosure rate: 1/522 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 3,640 – #7 highest
> Housing units: 1,901,256 – #12 highest
> Median home value: $179,100 – #124 highest
> Population: 4,392,041

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7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/501 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 2,172 – #13 highest
> Housing units: 1,087,949 – #24 highest
> Median home value: $242,100 – #68 highest
> Population: 2,673,376

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6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/498 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 5,303 – #4 highest
> Housing units: 2,641,002 – #6 highest
> Median home value: $310,700 – #32 highest
> Population: 6,138,333

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5. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
> Foreclosure rate: 1/479 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,917 – #15 highest
> Housing units: 917,656 – #32 highest
> Median home value: $285,100 – #43 highest
> Population: 2,265,461

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4. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
> Foreclosure rate: 1/464 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 5,578 – #3 highest
> Housing units: 2,586,947 – #7 highest
> Median home value: $259,500 – #54 highest
> Population: 6,245,051

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3. Jacksonville, FL
> Foreclosure rate: 1/436 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 1,584 – #19 highest
> Housing units: 690,609 – #40 highest
> Median home value: $220,000 – #80 highest
> Population: 1,605,848

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2. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
> Foreclosure rate: 1/336 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 11,752 – #1 highest
> Housing units: 3,943,945 – #3 highest
> Median home value: $247,400 – #58 highest
> Population: 9,618,502

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1. Cleveland-Elyria, OH
> Foreclosure rate: 1/250 housing units
> Properties with foreclosure filing: 3,872 – #6 highest
> Housing units: 968,069 – #27 highest
> Median home value: $156,200 – #152 highest
> Population: 2,088,251

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