Foreclosures Are Back — and Florida Is Getting Hit the Hardest

6 min read

Foreclosures are back, and the numbers are real

After years of pandemic-era protections keeping foreclosures unusually low, the trend has clearly reversed. In the first quarter of 2026, more than 118,000 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing — up about 26% from a year earlier and the highest level since 2020. Nearly 77% of metro areas saw foreclosure activity rise, so this isn't a few struggling pockets; it's a broad shift back toward normal, and then some.

If you've felt the squeeze — a payment that keeps getting harder to make, an insurance bill that doubled, savings that ran thin — the data confirms you are far from alone.

Florida is getting hit the hardest

Florida isn't just part of this trend; it's leading it. In recent 2026 reporting, Florida posted the worst foreclosure rate of any state in the country — roughly one in every 2,110 homes with a filing. Two Florida metros, Punta Gorda and Lakeland, ranked among the very highest foreclosure rates in the entire nation.

Punta Gorda sits right in our backyard. From Charlotte County up through Sarasota and Manatee, Florida families are feeling this more acutely than almost anywhere else in America.

Why Florida, and why now?

It's not one thing — it's several pressures stacking up on the same homeowners:

• Property insurance: Florida premiums have climbed dramatically, and for many owners the insurance bill now rivals the mortgage itself.
• HOA and condo assessments: special assessments — especially on older condos after new inspection and reserve requirements — have added thousands of dollars a year, seemingly overnight.
• Higher-for-longer interest rates: adjustable loans that reset, and anyone who needed to borrow, are carrying payments that simply cost more.
• Cost of living and storms: taxes, repairs, and hurricane recovery all chip away at the cushion families used to have.

None of these are a personal failing. They're macro forces landing on ordinary households — and Florida caught more of them at once.

Rising foreclosures don't have to mean losing your home

Here's the part the headlines leave out: a foreclosure filing is a starting point, not a verdict. Florida runs foreclosures through the courts, which takes time and leaves real room to act. Homeowners have options — a repayment plan or forbearance, a loan modification, or, when keeping the home isn't realistic, a short sale that releases you from the mortgage without a foreclosure on your record.

The single biggest factor in how this ends is how early you reach out. Options are widest at the beginning and narrow as a case moves toward a sale date.

We've helped hundreds of Florida families find a way out

Dr. Short Sale — Eric Greenstein — has spent years guiding hundreds of families across Sarasota and all of Florida through exactly this moment. When the rest of the market panicked, this is the work we leaned into: negotiating with lenders, securing approvals, and getting people a clean exit and a fresh start. It typically costs the homeowner nothing out of pocket, because the lender pays the commissions and closing costs.

If you're behind, underwater, or just bracing for it, a short and confidential conversation will show you where you actually stand and what you can do about it. This article is general education, not legal, tax, or financial advice — but a free review is the fastest way to trade worry for a plan.