3 US States Have High Share Of 'Seriously Underwater' Mortgages & foreclosures Are Up

[Ken M.]

In the first quarter of 2025, there were 61,660 foreclosures, a 49.6% increase from the previous quarter.

Louisiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi topped the list of states with the highest share of “seriously underwater” mortgages... face a high risk of foreclosure.

In Q1 2025, 2.8 percent of mortgages nationwide were classified as being seriously underwater, up from 2.5 percent in Q4 2024.

“Louisiana remains the state with the highest percentage of seriously underwater mortgages, though the percentage improved from 11.3 percent to 10.5 percent from Q1 2024 and Q1 2025,” said the statement.

“In Louisiana, one in every 10 mortgages are seriously underwater,” ATTOM added. “The counties with the highest percent of mortgages seriously underwater are Vernon, Saint Martin, Iberville, and Webster.”

The rate of such mortgages in Kentucky and Mississippi was 7.3 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.

As with Louisiana, the rate dipped in both these states on an annual basis.

Virginia had the lowest level, where only one in 51 mortgages are considered underwater. This was followed by Alaska and Vermont.

• In the first quarter of 2025, there were 61,660 foreclosures, a 49.6% increase from the previous quarter. In 2024, there were 174,100 consumers in the U.S. with a new foreclosure on their credit report. While this figure was up from 150,820 in 2023, it remained significantly lower than the 1,755,860 consumers who experienced new foreclosures in 2008 when the housing market crashed in the wake of the Great Recession.
• In Q1 2025, only 2.1% of mortgaged properties were “underwater.” This figure is up slightly from 2.0% in Q4 2024 and far below a record high of 26.0% in 2009.