Foreclosures Are Rising… Here’s What the Media Won’t Tell You
You’ve probably seen the dramatic headlines:
“Foreclosures are surging.”
“Housing trouble is back.”
“2008 all over again.”
Slow down.
This market is NOTHING like 2008.
Yes, foreclosure filings are up. ATTOM says filings increased 26% year-over-year and have now risen for five straight quarters. That sounds terrifying… until you actually understand the numbers.
The media keeps comparing today to 2020 and 2021 — years where foreclosures were basically frozen because of government moratoriums. Those weren’t normal housing markets. They were emergency conditions.
If you compare today’s foreclosure numbers to 2017, 2018, and 2019 — actual normal market years — we’re STILL below those levels.
That’s not a collapse.
That’s a market returning to reality.
And let’s be very clear about the biggest difference between now and 2008:
EQUITY.
Back in the crash, millions of homeowners were upside down. They owed more than their homes were worth. Selling wasn’t an escape hatch. People were trapped.
Today?
The average homeowner is sitting on roughly $295,000 in equity according to Cotality.
That changes everything.
Most homeowners facing financial pressure today have options:
• sell and preserve equity
• negotiate repayment plans
• modify the loan
• use forbearance options
• refinance in some cases
• avoid long-term credit destruction
Banks also don’t WANT your house. Contrary to what people think, foreclosure is expensive, slow, messy, and risky for lenders. Most would rather work out a solution than take the property back.
Another detail the doom-posters leave out:
Not every foreclosure filing ends in someone losing their home.
There’s a massive gap between foreclosure filings and completed foreclosures. A lot of people enter the process… and then solve the problem before the home is ever repossessed.
That’s what equity does.
It gives people exits.
Could we see more distress?
Absolutely.
Higher rates, rising consumer debt, layoffs, and affordability pressure are real problems. Some people are going to get squeezed. Pretending otherwise is foolish.
But this idea that we’re heading into some giant foreclosure apocalypse because filings normalized off historic lows?
That’s lazy analysis.
The housing market today is built on stronger lending standards, locked-in low rates for many owners, and historically high homeowner equity.
Completely different foundation.
Completely different risk profile.
No surprises, ever.
Context matters.
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