8,269
NJ filings, first half of 2026
up 21% vs. H1 2025
1 in 459
NJ homes with a filing, H1 2026
7th-highest state rate
#1 in the U.S.
Trenton metro foreclosure rate
January 2026 (1 in 1,087 units)
Filings are back to pre-lull levels
New Jersey recorded 8,269 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2026 — a 21.14% jump from the 6,826 filings of H1 2025, and slightly above the same period of 2024. Nationally the first half brought 227,548 filings (up 21%), 164,566 foreclosure starts (up 18%), and 27,983 completed bank repossessions (up 33%). The post-pandemic lull is over; the letters and the door-knockers are back.
NJ foreclosure filings, first half of each year
*H1 2024 derived from ATTOM’s stated +2.39% change between H1 2024 and H1 2026.
Source: ATTOM Mid-Year 2026 Foreclosure Market Report (July 16, 2026) · January–June 2026
The clock is speeding up — that is the real story
For a decade, the defining fact of New Jersey foreclosure was time: as of early 2023 a completed NJ foreclosure averaged 1,697 days — about four and a half years. By mid-2026 the national average had fallen to 563 days, the fastest since 2013, and timelines have been compressing everywhere as courts clear backlogs. Every strategy available to a homeowner — mediation, modification, a controlled sale — runs on that clock. It still exists, but it is no longer safe to assume years of it.
Average days from first filing to completed foreclosure
The two figures cover different periods and areas — ATTOM’s last NJ-specific average predates the recent acceleration — but the direction is unambiguous: the runway is shortening.
Source: ATTOM Mid-Year 2026 Foreclosure Market Report (July 16, 2026) · NJ figure: ATTOM Q1 2023 report; U.S. figure: Q2 2026
The county watchlist
ATTOM’s monthly state tables in 2026 keep flagging the same South Jersey and capital-region counties for the highest filing rates — and in January, the Trenton metro area posted the single highest foreclosure rate of any U.S. metro over 200,000 people (1 in 1,087 housing units). In August 2026, New Jersey as a whole recorded 1,109 filings (1 in 3,419 units, 17th among states that month).
Salem County
Flagged: January + August 2026
Cumberland County
Flagged: January + August 2026
Mercer County
Flagged: January 2026 (Trenton: #1 U.S. metro rate)
Atlantic County
Flagged: January 2026
Camden County
Flagged: August 2026
Gloucester County
Flagged: August 2026
Counties named among New Jersey’s highest foreclosure rates in ATTOM’s 2026 monthly reports.
Source: ATTOM U.S. Foreclosure Rates by State, August 2026 · August 2026
Source: ATTOM January 2026 monthly report, via NJBIA (February 27, 2026) · January 2026
The long view
Roughly 16,000 new foreclosure cases reach the New Jersey courts in a typical recent year — a fraction of the 200,000+ complaints filed during the 2007–2012 crisis, but enough to keep New Jersey at or near the top of national rate rankings: tied for 2nd in 2024 (1 in 267 homes), 6th in 2025 (1 in 273), 7th at mid-2026. High filing rates are structural in New Jersey, not a blip — a judicial process, dense housing, and high carrying costs see to that.
Source: New Jersey Courts (October 2023) · Court-year figures as of October 2023
Source: ATTOM Mid-Year 2026 Foreclosure Market Report (July 16, 2026) · Rate rankings 2024–2026
What this means if you are behind
More filings and a faster clock point the same direction: the options that save homes — free court mediation, loss mitigation, a controlled sale — reward the people who start early. Every free tool on this site exists for exactly that.
Journalists & researchers
These figures are compiled from the public sources cited above and are free to use with attribution and a link to this page. For questions about the data or New Jersey’s foreclosure process, write to help@njforeclosureguide.org — we reply within one business day.