What the numbers say
ATTOM, which tracks foreclosure filings nationwide, counted 7,408 Indiana properties with a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2026. That is about one in every 402 housing units, up 38% from the same period in 2025, and the third-highest rate among the states. Nationally, 227,548 properties had a filing, one in every 632 homes, up 21%.
That is a real increase, and it is worth saying plainly instead of waving it away.
What it does not mean
The foreclosure rate at the 2010 peak was 2.23% of all U.S. homes, about one in 45. This year's national rate is 0.16% for the first half, about one in 632. Even if the second half matches the first, the full-year national rate would be near 0.32%, roughly seven times lower than 2010. Indiana's rate would be near 0.5%, roughly four and a half times lower (those annualized figures are my estimate, not ATTOM's).
The rate is also rising from a very low base. ATTOM's mid-year data show completed foreclosures, meaning bank repossessions, still about 26% below the first half of 2020. Part of what looks like a surge is the market returning to more normal levels after the pandemic years, when payment pauses and protections held foreclosures far below their usual pace.
Equity is the other half of the story. Cotality estimates the average mortgaged homeowner has about $310,000 in equity, and only about 2.1% of mortgaged homes are underwater. In 2008 a quarter of borrowers owed more than their home was worth. An owner with real equity who falls behind can usually sell and walk away with money. That is why a foreclosure wave of 2008 size needs more than a few missed payments.
What would make it worse
Forced sales mostly come from lost income. If unemployment rises meaningfully, foreclosure numbers can climb faster than equity can protect people. That is the number I would watch alongside the foreclosure data, and it is why I would not call the trend irrelevant.
If you are buying or selling in Hamilton County
The foreclosure figures cover Indiana as a whole. They do not show a distress problem in Hamilton County specifically, where MIBOR's September data show 2.3 months of supply and a median price flat from a year ago. For most Hamilton County sellers, the more relevant pressure is a slower market and higher rates, not forced sales on the next street. I wrote up the full picture, with the 2008 comparison and my watch list, in Is the Housing Market Crashing? What the Numbers Actually Say.
Sources: ATTOM 2026 Mid-Year Foreclosure Market Report; RealtyTrac 2010 figures via HousingWire; Cotality Home Equity Report, Q2 2026; MIBOR Market Review, September 2026 (Hamilton County, all property types). General information, not a forecast or financial advice.