Ohio Pre-Foreclosure Rates See Sharp Decrease in May 2025, But Struggles Remain for Many Homeowners

A Housing Market Caught Between Recovery and Risk

The number of Ohio homes entering the pre-foreclosure process dropped significantly in May 2025, continuing a broader trend that began after the steep pandemic-era downturns. But beneath these encouraging numbers, individual stories of distress reveal that many Ohioans—especially low-income and working-class families—remain one step away from losing the biggest investment of their lives.

In May 2025, Ohio recorded 996 properties in pre-foreclosure. That’s a 29.76% drop from April 2025, when 1,418 properties had entered the early stages of the foreclosure process. This month-over-month decline marks a notable shift and offers a glimmer of hope for financially distressed homeowners and advocates tracking housing instability across the state. Compared with the same month last year—May 2024, when 1,179 properties were in pre-foreclosure—the decline is about 15.52%, continuing a slow march away from the post-pandemic rebound in foreclosure activity.

Fewer Filings, But Financial Fragility Lingers

Behind the grim math of foreclosure filings is a human story with thousands of variations. In Dayton’s west side, Angela Martin, a single mother of three who works two part-time jobs, was warned in March that her lender was initiating pre-foreclosure proceedings. After falling behind on mortgage payments during last winter’s spike in heating bills, she had just started to catch up when her car broke down—a $1,200 repair that exploded her already fragile household budget.

“I’ve always paid my bills,” she said, her voice cracking as she stood outside a payday lender she hoped to avoid. “But it’s like I can’t get ahead, no matter what I do.”

Martin’s story is not unique in Ohio, a state where stagnant wages, inflation-driven cost-of-living increases, and chronic underemployment have made homeownership a month-to-month balancing act for many working-class families.

Even as pre-foreclosure filings fall, housing advocates warn that this is not the definitive sign of renewed housing security. Instead, the drop may reflect overextended homeowners relying on short-term fixes—personal loans, credit card debt, or emergency relief—in a last-ditch effort to stay afloat.

“These numbers give an incomplete picture of the housing crisis,” said Sharon Conley, a housing counselor in Columbus who advises distressed homeowners. “There’s less paperwork being filed, yes. But I’m still seeing a packed calendar and people terrified of losing their homes.”

From Crisis to Stabilization: Two Decades of Trends

To understand the context, it helps to look at the long arc of pre-foreclosure activity in Ohio.

The most acute phase of the housing crisis occurred between 2008 and 2010. In 2009 alone, more than 112,000 Ohio properties were in some stage of pre-foreclosure. The fallout from subprime lending, paired with mass layoffs during the Great Recession, pushed thousands of Ohioans into default. The years that followed saw gradual recovery: filings declined, and housing markets slowly corrected.

Things changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in 2020, eviction and foreclosure moratoriums drove pre-foreclosure counts to historic lows, just 7,492 in 2021. When protections lifted, filings began to rebound, rising to 18,153 in 2022, and then to 21,816 in 2023.

By 2024, however, filings had dropped again to 17,360 for the full year. And now, with just five months of 2025 data, Ohio has reported 6,204 pre-foreclosure filings, putting the state on pace for approximately 14,900 by year’s end—a modest but encouraging decline.

The Hard Math Behind Fewer Foreclosures

While the monthly decline in May 2025 is statistically significant, its root causes go beyond improved solvency.

Ohio has one of the most affordable housing markets in the nation, with median home prices well below the national average. This has helped insulate the state somewhat from the inflation-driven price spikes seen in coastal cities. Still, unemployment remains persistently higher here than in many parts of the country, particularly in post-industrial regions like Youngstown and parts of Toledo and Akron. Housing affordability is also relative: for families earning $30,000 a year or less, even modest mortgage payments can be devastating when compounded by rising utility bills, medical expenses, or childcare.

“Pre-foreclosure doesn’t just mean someone skipped a payment,” said James Holloway, a legal aid attorney based in Cincinnati. “It’s often the final stage in a long unraveling—medical debt, job loss, car trouble, mental health. By the time someone’s behind on their mortgage, they’ve usually already exhausted their options.”

That makes a 30% monthly decrease in pre-foreclosure filings a mixed signal. It could reflect seasonal trends, successful loan modifications, or simply a temporary pause before another wave of distress. With the Federal Reserve showing caution on rate cuts and inflation still hitting essential goods like food and insurance, these gains remain fragile.

Conclusion: Hope, but with Caution

Ohio stands at an inflection point. With 996 pre-foreclosure filings in May 2025, the state is on track for its lowest annual totals since the post-COVID recovery began. That’s good news, and perhaps a sign of stabilizing ground beneath the feet of thousands of homeowners.

But the numbers don’t capture the full story. They don’t explain why so many people have to choose between groceries and their gas bill. They don’t tell us how many Ohio families are living in homes they fear they might soon leave. As we mark encouraging progress on paper, the people behind those statistics need more than headlines—they need help.

Because for families like Angela Martin’s, stability isn’t measured in percentages. It’s measured in something much harder to quantify: the peace of mind that comes with knowing your home is still yours.