NEED TO KNOW

  • Indiana logged 1 foreclosure filing per 739 housing units in Q1 2026, worst in nation.
  • Top three foreclosure states all voted Trump in 2024.
  • National foreclosure filings up 26% year-over-year, well below 2008 levels.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (TDR) — Indiana, South Carolina, and Florida posted the nation's worst foreclosure rates in the first quarter of 2026, according to property data firm ATTOM. All three states delivered their electoral votes to Donald Trump in 2024.

The big picture: Foreclosure filings are climbing across the country, but the pressure is concentrated in states that built their political identity on lower costs and economic stewardship.

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Why it matters: Affordability is the dominant 2026 midterm issue. The data shows the squeeze landing hardest on voters Republicans need to hold.

  • A total of 118,727 properties had foreclosure filings in Q1, up 26% year-over-year.
  • Bank repossessions climbed 45% annually, with lenders taking back 14,020 properties.
  • Indianapolis ranked 12th worst among major U.S. metros, alongside Cleveland and Jacksonville.
  • South Dakota, Vermont, and Montana posted the lowest foreclosure rates nationally, all states with smaller pandemic-era price spikes.

Driving the news: ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said the rise in starts and bank repossessions signals "financial pressure may be building for some homeowners." Local Indiana housing advocates point to a specific squeeze: property tax assessments catching up to pandemic-era home values while homeowners insurance rates surge.

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What they're saying:

  • Amy Nelson, Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana — "Your mortgage might not be going up, but your home insurance and your property taxes are."
  • Rob Barber, ATTOM CEO — "While volumes remain below historical peaks, the continued rise, especially in starts and bank repossessions, suggests financial pressure may be building for some homeowners."
  • Donna Schmidt, DLS Servicing — "The industry saw five years of very low foreclosure rates due to loss-mitigation policies that allowed borrowers to kick the can down the road."

Yes, but: The political geography frame has real limits. By April, Delaware overtook Indiana for the nation's worst monthly foreclosure rate, and Illinois sits in the top five. Total foreclosure activity remains well below 2008 crisis levels. Indiana saw 14,000 filings per quarter at the subprime collapse versus roughly 4,000 in Q1, per the WBIW recap of ATTOM's metro data. The structural drivers (property taxes, insurance, post-pandemic price reversion) don't track cleanly to any single party's policy choices.

Between the lines: Both parties have an interest in misreading this data. Democrats want a Trump-economy narrative the timing doesn't support; the foreclosure pipeline reflects loans originated and stressed under the prior administration. Republicans want to wave it off as normalization, but the concentration in their voter base is a political problem regardless of cause. The honest reading is harder for both sides: the affordability crisis is structural, bipartisan, and accelerating in places where homeowners were told the cost of living would be lower.

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What's next:

  • Indiana's Senate Enrolled Act 1, signed by Gov. Mike Braun in April 2025, phases in homeowner relief beginning with 2026 tax bills.
  • Florida insurance market reform remains stalled as carriers continue exiting the state.
  • ATTOM's next monthly report drops in mid-June, with eyes on whether Delaware or Indiana leads the quarterly count again.

Is the affordability crisis a failure of the party in power now, the party in power when these loans were written, or a structural problem neither side wants to name?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting and data from ATTOM, Fox News, HousingWire, Yahoo Finance, Newsweek, WBIW, SoFi, PR Newswire, Inside Indiana Business, and Purdue Extension

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