Despite a generally strong housing market throughout the Garden State, a new study claims that foreclosures have ticked up in New Jersey in both suburban counties and urban centers.
A new report from Property Shark sheds some light on the foreclosure market throughout the New York metropolitan area. The study concludes that foreclosures generally inched up 6% year-on-year in the region to total 1,718 first-time filings.
While the New York City borough of The Bronx had the largest regional increase in foreclosures year over year at 73%, two leafy New Jersey counties surprisingly saw the second biggest jump. Somerset County saw a 54% year-over-year increase in first-time foreclosures during the second quarter of 2025, while Morris County’s 50% jump was the state’s second largest increase.
Urban centers were far from spared, according to the report. Hudson County’s 49% jump was New Jersey’s third largest increase, while the beachy Monmouth County saw a 44% increase. Bergen and Essex counties, two of the state’s most popular suburban destinations, saw jumps of 30% and 28% respectively.
All told, counties in northern and central New Jersey saw a 23% year-over-year surge in foreclosure cases. The Garden’s State foreclosure activity overall hit a two year high, consisting of over 800 cases.
The numbers from Property Shark’s study come as a bit of a shock, as New Jersey’s markets saw nine quarters of near-consecutive declines in foreclosure activity. The total numbers of foreclosures reached figures not seen since early 2023 during this year’s second quarter, also representing a 34% quarter-over-quarter jump.
Property Shark pulled their statistics from first-time foreclosures in order to avoid over-reporting the number of distressed properties. This report focuses on residential properties (single and two-family homes; condos; and co-op units) that were scheduled for auction during Q2 2025 in metro New York.
