Maryland’s Pre-Foreclosure Numbers Fall Sharply in May 2025 — But The Pain Behind the Decline Remains

Maryland Homeowners Get a Temporary Reprieve — But At What Cost?

The housing market in Maryland is showing signs of relief, at least on paper. Pre-foreclosure filings in the state dropped to 479 in May 2025, a staggering 22.89% decline from April and an even steeper 31.27% drop compared to May of last year. At a glance, the numbers suggest progress: fewer homeowners are receiving those dreaded notices warning that the clock is ticking on their mortgages. Fewer lives may seem on the brink of eviction. Fewer families, in theory, are packing up their belongings in cardboard boxes under a cloud of uncertainty.

But beneath the numbers is a more complicated reality. The modest statistical victory arrives against a backdrop of soaring household debt, stubborn inflation, and a still-challenging affordability crisis that is particularly punishing for low- and middle-income families. The sharp decline in Maryland pre-foreclosures might feel like hope, but for many households, it’s a fraught pause in a long survival game.

A Long Descent from Crisis-Era Highs

In order to understand the present moment, it’s important to look back. In 2010, at the height of the aftermath of the Great Recession, Maryland recorded nearly 67,000 pre-foreclosures. That number encapsulated the wreckage of a housing bubble gone bust — lost homes, decimated savings, and entire communities hollowed out by vacancy and blight.

Years passed. Protections came and went. Markets stabilized. Policy changed. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, an extraordinary U.S. foreclosure moratorium drove pre-foreclosures in Maryland to a record low of just 691 in 2021.

Since then, the numbers started to tick up again, climbing to 12,419 in 2023 and falling slightly to 8,861 in 2024. With five months of data reported so far in 2025, Maryland has recorded 2,872 pre-foreclosure filings. If this pace holds, the state will close the year with its lowest annual total since 2021 — a dramatic decline from the early and mid-2010s.

What’s Behind the Drop?

Housing experts caution against interpreting this downward trend as a signal that Maryland homeowners are thriving. More likely, the sharp drops from both the previous month and year point to a combination of short-term factors: lender backlogs, policy-driven delays in foreclosure processing, and a brief economic reprieve tied to improving employment figures.

But scratch the surface, and distress remains. Inflation, though cooling, has reshaped what it means to afford a home, especially for families already on the edge. Even modest mortgage rate increases have rattled adjustable-rate borrowers. Stimulus payments and loan deferrals are now long gone, and assistance programs are increasingly hard to navigate. The foreclosure process may momentarily slow, but the threat remains real and constant.

“There are months where I think I’ll be fine,” said Tonya Anderson, a 46-year-old administrative assistant in Prince George’s County, whose home slipped into pre-foreclosure earlier this year. “Then something hits — a medical bill, a car repair — and all of a sudden, I’m behind again. It’s like drowning slowly.”

Tonya is part of a growing cohort of Maryland homeowners, particularly vulnerable to today’s uneven housing recovery. While her job survived the pandemic, wages haven’t kept up with rising costs. In interviews like hers, the disconnect between the foreclosure filings and people’s lived experience becomes painfully clear.

The Hidden Cost on Low-Income Communities

For many lower-income neighborhoods in Maryland — especially in historically underserved cities just outside Washington D.C. and Baltimore — owning a home has never been a guarantee of stability. These communities lost the most during the housing crash, saw the fewest benefits during the recovery, and today face a rental market that’s even less forgiving.

Housing counselors report that some struggling homeowners are staying afloat solely through informal assistance — loans from family members, gig work, or simply skipping essential expenses like healthcare or credit card bills. Others are selling their homes under duress before the foreclosure clock runs out, locking in whatever equity they’ve built and walking away not in victory, but in retreat.

“I see a lot of clients who are technically not in foreclosure because they act early,” said Kelly Thornton, a housing counselor with a nonprofit based in Montgomery County. “They’re losing their homes voluntarily — because they’re afraid they’ll lose everything if they wait too long. Those cases don’t always show up in the stats.”

Conclusion: The Numbers May Fall, But The Pressure Remains

There’s a story behind every foreclosure — one where economic trends intersect with deeply human crises. Maryland’s recent drop in pre-foreclosure filings offers a statistical reprieve, but it doesn’t reflect the full weight of hardship still pressing down on many of the state’s households.

Behind the 479 homes that entered pre-foreclosure in May 2025 are families like Tonya’s. People who, despite working and trying their best to get back on track, continue to walk the razor’s edge of financial insecurity.

The numbers may be falling. But for thousands of homeowners across Maryland, the struggle is far from over.