Florida Posts Highest H1 2026 Foreclosure Rate at 27,494 Filings as U.S. Cases Rise 21%
Updated
Updated · WJXT News4JAX · Jul 16
Florida Posts Highest H1 2026 Foreclosure Rate at 27,494 Filings as U.S. Cases Rise 21%
3 articles · Updated · WJXT News4JAX · Jul 16
Summary
27,494 Florida properties logged foreclosure filings in the first half of 2026, equal to 0.27% of housing units—about one in 373 homes, the highest rate of any state.
Florida's filings rose 33% from a year earlier and 37% from two years earlier, reflecting mounting homeowner stress as lenders also move cases through the system faster.
20,358 Florida properties entered foreclosure, second only to Texas, while lenders repossessed 2,070 homes in the state, the third-most behind Texas and California.
Punta Gorda posted the worst metro foreclosure rate nationally at 0.50%, followed by Lakeland at 0.48%; in the second quarter alone, Lakeland was worst among larger metros at one in 421 homes.
227,548 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings in H1, up 21%, while the average foreclosure timeline fell to 563 days in Q2—the shortest since 2013.