Foreclosure activity is down nationwide from a year ago, but certain local housing markets tell a different story.
Overall, there were 66,401 properties with foreclosure filings in October, a jump of 21% from the previous month's all-time low, but still a 4% decrease from the same period last year, according to Attom Data Solutions.
Despite this annual decline, some cities are seeing alarming leaps in foreclosure activity — with filings increasing around 350% in certain local markets.
For example, many Gulf Coast markets are just now seeing an uptick in foreclosures from natural disasters in 2017. Servicers offered forbearances and foreclosure moratoriums in the initial aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and are now starting to resume normal default servicing operations.
"We saw an initial foreclosure moratorium in those markets, to give people relief who had been affected by the hurricanes, but now lenders are playing catch-up and actually filing some of those deferred foreclosures," said Attom Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist.
"The effects have masked that there are more widespread increases in foreclosure activity," he added.
Here's a look at 12 housing markets where foreclosure filings are surging. The October foreclosure data, from Attom, is ranked by the largest annual gains in foreclosure filings for Metropolitan Statistical Areas with at least 100,000 housing units. The filing totals include preforeclosure notices; public foreclosure auctions; and completed foreclosure actions.
