CLEVELAND — Since dropping during the pandemic, the number of foreclosures across the country is on the rise again, and the region where they’re happening most often is right here in Ohio.

Throughout last year, about one out every 160 housing units in Cleveland were foreclosed on. A rate of 0.62%, which, according to the real estate data research firm ATTOM, is a higher rate than any other metro area in the entire country.

But it’s unclear why Cleveland tops the charts.

“We’ve really been looking for is what’s driving those sort of instances to occur in the economy overall. And what might be driving it slightly more in somewhere like the Cleveland Metropolitan area, or in Ohio in general than maybe in other states,” said Jonathan Ernest, an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University.

As Ernest alludes to, the problem extends beyond Cleveland. Ohio as a whole has fifth highest foreclosure rate among U.S. States, and when looking at individual zip codes, only three communities in the entire country had a higher rate than the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, something that mortgage lender, Mario Ingraffia, said is likely because of high property taxes.

“I think it’s interesting in Cuyahoga County if you break down what are actually foreclosures associated to like delinquencies on their mortgage versus taxes,” Ingraffia said.

But while foreclosure rates have been on the rise since they essentially stopped during the pandemic, they’re still significantly lower than where they were in 2019.

Ernest believes lower interest rates could reduce the number of foreclosures, but also cause another problem.

“It also means that you might not be able to sell your house for quite as much, depending on the circumstances, which could affect whether or not you’re able to get out of a bad situation if you start to get underwater on your loan,” Ernest said.

Ingraffia said if you’re trying to avoid a home foreclosure, he suggests seeking help sooner rather than later. 

“The best thing to do is reach out to your servicer upfront and they traditionally will point you to some housing counseling plus some options for you,” Ingraffia said.