Foreclosures Up Across Country, Pennsylvania Sees Rise

Foreclosure activity saw another bump in October.

According to ATTOM Data Solutions, foreclosure filings were up 5% compared to September and 76% year over year (there was an eviction mortarium still in place October 2020, which ended in August 2021). Across the U.S., one in every 6,675 properties had a foreclosure filing. This is the sixth yearly increase in a row. Foreclosure starts were up in 28 states, including Pennsylvania. In the U.S., 10,759 properties were at the start of the process in October, an increase of 5% from  September and 115% year over year. In Pennsylvania, foreclosure starts were up 107% from September.

“Most foreclosure activity for the next few months is likely to be foreclosure starts since virtually nothing entered the foreclosure process during the past year,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company. “The ratio of foreclosure starts to foreclosure completions will normalize over time as we get back to normal levels of activity.”

Completed foreclosures also saw an increase in October. The number rose 13% from September and 17% from the previous October. Pennsylvania had one of the highest numbers in the country, at 175 completed foreclosures, behind just Illinois and California. Additionally, Philadelphia had one of the highest number of completed foreclosures for a metropolitan area with a population of 1 million or more at 72 completed foreclosures, just ahead of New York City, but behind Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis.