In the early 2000’s many mortgage companies engaged in sub-prime lending. In retrospect, home purchase money was being lent to unqualified buyers. When the foreclosures started in earnest in 2004, the country suffered a major financial crisis.
Home ownership rates peaked in 2004, approximately 8.6 million homes have been foreclosed upon.
In 2010, the foreclosure total hit it’s peak. There were almost 1.2 million homes foreclosed upon. 2010 was followed closely by 2011, which had over 1 million foreclosures. But since 2010 the number of foreclosures has been steadily declining each year. A healthier economy along with increased consumer confidence has led the recovery. Add to that, the bad sub-prime loans have largely been taken from the market. The number of foreclosures has dropped nearly 100,000 per year.
As 2016 drew to a close, there were approximately 1 million homes in serious delinquency. Compare this to a peak of 3.7 million homes in the same situation in January 2010.
The state with the highest percentage of homes in foreclosure was Florida. In June 2011, 12.5% of homes were in some stage of the foreclosure process.