The American housing market is flashing yellow. Foreclosure filings hit 40,355 properties in May 2026, a 14% jump compared to the same month last year, according to data from ATTOM.
That number, while notable, comes with a caveat worth understanding. Month over month, filings actually dipped 5%.
The numbers behind the trend
Foreclosure starts, the initial legal filings that kick off the process, totaled 27,304 in May. That’s a 13% increase year over year.
Completed foreclosures, known in industry parlance as REOs (real estate owned, meaning the bank took the property back), came in at 4,092. That’s up 6% from May 2025.
