{"id":6406,"date":"2026-05-13T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/13\/what-the-foreclosure-headlines-arent-telling-you\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:30:00","slug":"what-the-foreclosure-headlines-arent-telling-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/13\/what-the-foreclosure-headlines-arent-telling-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Foreclosure Headlines Aren\u2019t Telling You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"What\n

You\u2019ve probably seen the headlines saying, \u201cforeclosures are on the rise<\/em>,\u201d and maybe your mind jumped straight to 2008. That\u2019s understandable. A lot of people remember that crash<\/a> and all the foreclosures that happened during that window, and they\u2019re hoping something like that never happens again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t a repeat of what happened back then. Here\u2019s the context to prove it.<\/p>\n

Foreclosures Are Rising, But They\u2019re Still Historically Low<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Yes, foreclosure filings are up 26%<\/a> from a year ago, according to ATTOM<\/em>. And they\u2019ve been rising for 5 straight quarters. That\u2019s a real trend worth paying attention to. But the full picture isn\u2019t scary like the headlines suggest.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reality is the increase we\u2019re seeing is a sign of the market normalizing.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an important thing to know about this chart. The extremely low numbers you see in 2020 and 2021 don\u2019t represent what\u2019s \u201cnormal<\/em>.\u201d That\u2019s when the government put a moratorium on foreclosures to help homeowners get through the pandemic. Those years were an exception, not the baseline.<\/p>\n

Instead, compare where we are today to 2017, 2018, and 2019 \u2013 the last years the market was running normally. Today\u2019s numbers are still lower<\/strong>. So, we\u2019re not even back to what\u2019s typical, yet. That means this can\u2019t be a crash. (see graph below<\/em>):<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>While today\u2019s numbers are getting closer to pre-pandemic levels, they\u2019re still below historical norms. And just look at what was happening around 2008. Even with the recent increase, we\u2019re nowhere near those levels. This is a market returning to normal, not heading toward a crisis.<\/p>\n

Why Today\u2019s Equity Picture Changes Everything<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Most of those filings won\u2019t even end in a completed foreclosure. That\u2019s because today\u2019s homeowners have something most people in 2008 simply didn\u2019t have. And that\u2019s equity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The average homeowner today is sitting on roughly <\/strong>$295,000<\/strong><\/a> in home equity right now, according to Cotality<\/em>.<\/strong> Back in 2008, many people owed more than their homes were worth. Selling wasn\u2019t an option. And foreclosure was often the only door available.<\/p>\n

Today, that\u2019s not the case. If you have enough equity to cover what you owe and the cost of selling, you could sell your home, pay off your debt, protect your credit, and potentially walk away with money in your pocket.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a completely different situation than what homeowners faced during the last crash, and it\u2019s a big reason we\u2019re unlikely to see foreclosures spiral the way they did back then.<\/p>\n

Check out the graph below. It shows foreclosure data<\/a> from ATTOM<\/em> going back to 2005. Here\u2019s how to read it:<\/p>\n