Wisconsin Sees Sharp Rise in Pre-Foreclosures in September 2024 as Households Struggle with Mounting Costs

A Resurgence of Distress in a Post-Crisis Housing Market

In Wisconsin, where dairy barns and rusted factories dot the landscape between city hospitals and college campuses, new data suggests a troubling development: the number of homeowners entering pre-foreclosure spiked to 236 properties in September 2024. That’s a staggering 69.8% increase from August—a sharp monthly rise at a time when many believed the worst of the housing market fallout had long since passed.

To some, this might read like just another number in the ongoing narrative of American real estate. But behind every count is a story: a late electric bill, a missed mortgage payment, a broken-down car that siphoned funds from a savings account already stretched too thin. And for many Wisconsin families living paycheck to paycheck, those stories are becoming alarmingly common.

A Sudden Jolt in the Numbers

The heightened number of pre-foreclosure filings in September marks a significant uptick from the 139 filings just a month prior. It’s the kind of movement that startles policymakers and economic analysts alike, not just because of the raw increase, but because it points to deeper, interconnected systemic challenges.

At the same time, it’s worth noting the broader trend: September’s total is still 20.3% lower than that of September 2023, when there were 296 filings. That year-over-year decrease suggests that while this recent spike is cause for listening closely, it’s not yet a return to the scale of distress seen in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the preceding foreclosure crises of the 2000s.

Indeed, 2024, measured in total pre-foreclosure filings through September, is modest when held against the scale of past years. With 1,436 filings across the first nine months, the state appears on track for its third-lowest annual total in two decades.

But monthly data often tells a more current and urgent story, especially when it swings this sharply.

Economic Strain Beneath the Surface

It’s easy to attribute the recent spike to real estate market adjustments or evolving interest rates, but for many Wisconsin homeowners, the cause is far more personal: everything just costs more.

Inflation has subsided slightly from its 2022 peak, but food prices remain stubbornly high. Medical debts are rising. Interest from pandemic-era forbearance programs has entered repayment. And in places like Racine, Kenosha, or parts of Milwaukee, where wages haven’t kept pace with rising housing costs, the cracks in the economic foundation are becoming harder to ignore.

Emma Rodriguez, a 46-year-old single mother and licensed health aide from Green Bay, found herself in pre-foreclosure this month after a series of financial hits. Her car broke down in July, requiring a $1,800 fix. Two weeks later, her hours were cut at the assisted living facility where she’s worked for years. “I made the mortgage payment in August,” she said. “But when September came, there just wasn’t enough.”

Like many others in her situation, Rodriguez didn’t stop trying. She held garage sales, picked up weekend house cleaning jobs, even tried negotiating with her lender. But the gap widened faster than her solutions could keep up. A notice came in the mail at the end of September: her property was now in pre-foreclosure.

Stories like Rodriguez’s abound—quiet, painful, and largely overlooked in the broader housing debate.

A Glance at the Historical Arc

To grasp the weight of the present, one must understand the scale of the past. At the height of the foreclosure crisis in 2010, Wisconsin saw a staggering 38,146 pre-foreclosure filings. The years that followed marked a slow and steady descent: 24,340 in 2013, 15,962 in 2015, dropping to 7,142 by 2019.

The pandemic shook the trajectory, as moratoriums temporarily froze foreclosures, leading to sharp drops in 2020 (only 2,378 filings) and a muted resurgence in the years that followed. But now, with many protections having expired and inflation gnawing at disposable income, vulnerabilities are surfacing once again.

In that context, September’s 236 filings may seem modest. But for families across the state, it is anything but.

Conclusion: Beyond the Spreadsheet

The conversation around real estate tends to float high above human-scale pain, full of charts, market cycles, and policy forecasts. But pre-foreclosure is not abstract; it is visceral. It affects where children sleep, whether seniors can age in place, and how communities preserve their cohesion.

Wisconsin’s September numbers are more than an anomaly. They are a reflection of the pressures building on American households far beyond the headlines. As inflation tapers but high prices remain, and as pandemic-era protections recede into memory, many Wisconsinites are finding that keeping their homes is becoming a full-time job in itself.

For now, the state’s year-to-date trend still suggests resilience, but September’s spike is a reminder. The margins are narrowing. And for more families than statistics can show, the edge is dangerously close.