Eliza Theiss Key Takeaways:
- New York metro closes slowest first quarter in five years after 7% Y-o-Y decline
- New Jersey claims metro’s sharpest increase with 105% Y-o-Y Monmouth County spike, as well as metro’s sharpest decrease with 56% Y-o-Y Sussex County drop
- NYC foreclosures tick down 3% Y-o-Y overall, even as Manhattan hits eight-year high & the Bronx reaches five-year peak
- Queens claims more than one in 10 first-time filings as metro’s most active foreclosure market, followed by Suffolk and Nassau counties with one in five cases
- Two-family homes lead NYC foreclosure sector, surpassing combined co-op and condo filings
- NYC commercial foreclosures fall 36% Y-o-Y citywide, driven by Brooklyn slowdown
Having tracked the New York City foreclosure market for more than a decade, we now continue with our expanded reporting of foreclosures and distressed properties across the 24-county New York metro area. Specifically, this report covers NYC; Long Island; the Lower and Mid-Hudson valleys; plus Central and North Jersey.
New York Metro Foreclosure Sector Starts 2025 With Slowest 1st Quarter Since 2020
Metro New York’s foreclosure sector continued its end-of-the-year decline in 2025, albeit at a slower rate of 7% year-over-year (Y-o-Y).Overall, this added up to a total of 1,503 first-time foreclosure filings across the metro, making Q1 2025 the slowest first quarter in five years.
However, the start of the year seemed to bring a more mixed outlook across the metro with foreclosures trending up in 10 counties, trending down in another 11 counties and flat in three counties year-over-year. As a result, first-time foreclosures decreased in 42% of metro counties, continuing 2024 trends, when filings decreased in 71% of metro counties.
The sharpest year-over-year drops in foreclosures filings were logged in New Jersey counties — Sussex County (-56% Y-o-Y) and Morris County (-41% Y-o-Y) — while Suffolk County’s 28% Y-o-Y decrease was New York’s most drastic slowdown.
At the other end of the spectrum, New Jersey also claimed the metro’s sharpest increase as Monmouth County’s Q1 caseload more than doubled (105%) year-over-year for a total of 88 first-time filings. Next was the Mid-Hudson Valley exurb of Dutchess County, which jumped 70% Y-o-Y. It was followed by Manhattan’s 59% Y-o-Y increase that brought the borough to an eight-year high of 54 new filings.
Queens Claims 1 in 10 Metro Foreclosures, Long Island Supplies 1 in 5
Although foreclosure incidences decreased at a similar pace in both New Jersey and New York, only three New York markets logged double-digit slowdowns: Suffolk County foreclosures came down 28% Y-o-Y, while cases in both Brooklyn and Queens both declined 14% Y-o-Y.
Notably, Suffolk County’s sharp deceleration and Nassau County’s more muted 5% Y-o-Y decline brought the two Long Island markets to similar levels of foreclosure activity — 135 first-time filings in Nassau County and 151 in Suffolk County. By comparison, in Q4 2024, Suffolk County had nearly double the caseload of Nassau.
Despite their respective slowdowns, these two counties remained among the state’s three most active foreclosure markets, although Queens’ less-dramatic slowdown allowed it to take the state’s top spot. In fact, Queens 165 first-time filings made it the most active foreclosure market in metro New York.
Meanwhile, Putnam County continued as the slowest among the metro’s New York markets with just 18 cases — even with a 13% Y-o-Y uptick in the first three months of the year — after totaling just 64 first-time filings throughout 2024. Conversely, the metro’s sharpest rise in foreclosure filings was observed in Dutchess County, although its 70% Y-o-Y increase amounted to only 34 cases.
At the same time, a 15% uptick in first-time filings made Orange County the most active market among NYC’s Hudson Valley suburbs and exurbs with a total of 70 cases. Westchester County was next with 59 cases just two more than during the same period last year.
Manhattan Closes Most Active Quarter in 8 Years, the Bronx Marks 5-Year High
NYC’s foreclosure sector was one of disjointed trends in the first quarter of the year: The city overall continued to trend down with its most active boroughs following suit while others heated up to peaks not seen in years. In particular, Manhattan stood out as a 59% Y-o-Y increase brought its Q1 caseload to 54 first-time filings — a figure not seen since Q4 2016 to mark an eight-year high for the borough.
Manhattan’s foreclosures hot zone concentrated five new cases in zip 10026, which covers Harlem’s southern portions between Central Park and West 120th Street.
Just to the north, the Bronx also totaled 54 first-time foreclosures in the first quarter of the year, similarly indicating a level of foreclosure activity not seen since Q1 2020, when the borough entered the pandemic with 85 new filings. This came as the result of a 26% Y-o-Y increase in first-time cases in the first quarter of this year. In this case, zip 10462 in the Parkchester, Bronxdale and Van Nest area returned as the borough’s foreclosure hotspot with nine cases concentrated here.
Considering the evolution of the post-pandemic foreclosure market in the Bronx and its newest acceleration in filings, Staten Island seems to be fully entrenched as the city’s least-active foreclosure market: The borough was flat year-over-year, totaling just 26 new cases. Of these, one-fifth were concentrated in Mid-Island’s 10314 zip code — recurringly, the borough’s foreclosure epicenter.
Even as Manhattan and the Bronx saw significant increases in foreclosure activity, Queens and Brooklyn were cooling with first time-filings decreasing 14% Y-o-Y in both boroughs. More precisely, Brooklyn was the setting for 112 foreclosure filings in the first quarter to rank as metro New York’s fourth-most-active foreclosure market. Of these, Canarsie’s 11236 zip code supplied nearly 10%, concentrating 11 new cases.
At the same time, the 165 first-time cases filed in Queens made it the metro’s leading foreclosure market — supplying more new cases than Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island combined. Unsurprisingly, Queens was also the setting for the city’s foreclosure epicenter with 14 first-time filings concentrated in the familiar 11413 zip in the Brookville and Laurelton area recurringly one of the city’s foreclosure hotspots.
Of course, Brooklyn and Queens still supplied the bulk (67%) of NYC’s first-quarter cases, and their slowdowns cancelled out the accelerations of Manhattan and the Bronx, and then some. As a result, NYC closed Q1 2025 with 411 first-time foreclosures — 3% fewer than in Q1 2024. Overall, NYC foreclosures accounted for 27% of the metro’s total caseload.
More 2-Family Homes Foreclose Than Co-Op & Condo Units Combined
In terms of asset types, two-family homes drove the city’s foreclosure activity by a significant lead, accounting for 37% of first-time filings. As a matter of fact, two-family homes were the only residential asset type to see an increase in foreclosure filings, while foreclosures of single family homes, condos and co-ops all declined.
Moreover, whereas single and two-family homes typically account for similar shares in the city’s caseload, in Q1 2025, two-family homes accounted for more first-time filings than co-op units (21%) and condo units (14%) combined. Single family residences represented 28% of NYC’s new foreclosure filings.
NYC Commercial Foreclosures Decline as Brooklyn Filings Are Halved
New York City’s commercial foreclosure sector was also on a declining trend, weakened by the cooling of Brooklyn’s commercial foreclosure market.
Specifically, while citywide cases were down 36% Y-o-Y to return to figures seen two years ago, Brooklyn cases dropped 59% Y-o-Y. So, although Brooklyn accounted for 12 of the 16 commercial foreclosures filed in Q1 2023 and a whopping 22 of the 25 commercial foreclosures filed in Q1 2024, the borough supplied just nine of the city’s 16 cases in the most recent quarter.
Meanwhile, Queens heated up, totaling four commercial filings in the first three months of the year. Consequently, Queens claimed 25% of NYC’s commercial foreclosures — up from just 4% during the same period last year. Notably, Manhattan saw two commercial foreclosures at the start of the year, potentially suggesting a more active year for the borough that totaled only six cases in the entirety of 2024.
Top 5 Most Expensive Commercial Foreclosures Sold in Q1 2025
| Rank | Borough | Address | Lien Ammount | Sale Date | Sale Amount | Auction Date | REO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manhattan | 160 Bleecker St. | $41,863,779 | 2/5/2025 | $10,000 | 2/26/2025 | Yes |
| 2 | Brooklyn | 744 Lefferts Ave. | $8,637,690 | 1/30/2025 | $4,800,000 | 3/10/2025 | Yes |
| 3 | Bronx | 3075 3rd Ave. | $2,087,544 | 1/13/2025 | $500 | 2/18/2025 | Yes |
| 4 | Queens | 131-46 40th Rd. | $1,420,216 | 2/7/2025 | $1,802,938 | 3/17/2025 | No |
| 5 | Manhattan | 1982 Fulton St. | $1,289,300 | 1/23/2025 | $1,830,000 | 3/19/2025 | No |
| 1984 Fulton St. | (Package deal) |
Looking forward to the most expensive foreclosures headed to auction in Q2, Manhattan is taking the lead by a significant margin with a package deal: Comprising the historic Scribner’s Building at 597 Fifth Ave. and the neighboring 3 E. 48th St. office building, the properties are headed to the block on April 30 with a whopping, $140 million lien.
The buildings are part of a string of assets that Thor Equities has struggled with and lost in recent years. That said, these two particular assets had financial woes even before the pandemic, leading to a 2021 default on the $105 million loan that Thor had secured back in 2014. The properties then went into pre-foreclosure in 2023 and, by early 2024, they were valued at less than their debt as they struggled with low occupancy and unfinished repairs, especially the Beaux Arts Scribner building.
Top 5 Most Expensive Commercial Foreclosures Scheduled for Auction in Q2 2025
| Rank | Borough | Address | Lien Ammount | Occurrence | Auction Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manhattan | 597 5th Ave. | $140,382,151 | first-time | 4/30/2025 |
| 3 E 48th St. | (package deal) | ||||
| 2 | Manhattan | 453 E 83rd St. | $7,857,891 | rescheduled | 4/23/2025 |
| 3 | Brooklyn | 556 Lafayette Ave. | $4,578,676 | first-time | 5/1/2025 |
| 4 | Brooklyn | 6623 Ft. Hamilton Pkwy | $4,395,864 | rescheduled | 4/24/2025 |
| 5 | Brooklyn | 660 Fulton St. | $3,773,211 | first-time | 5/1/2025 |
New Jersey Claims Metro’s Sharpest Decreases & Increases with Monmouth & Sussex Counties
The metro’s New Jersey foreclosure markets continued to decline at a sharper rate than its New York markets, although differences were far less pronounced than a year ago. Specifically, the metro’s 12 New Jersey markets saw the number of foreclosures decline 8% Y-o-Y in Q1 2025, while New York markets contracted 6% Y-o-Y. By comparison, in Q1 2024, New Jersey markets were down 24% Y-o-Y and New York markets remained flat.
Overall, the metro’s New Jersey region totaled 601 first-time filings in the first three months of this year compared to 653 during the same period last year. Notably, the metro’s New Jersey markets presented a range of trends with filings decreasing in half. The sharpest slowdown was observed in Sussex County, where cases were halved (-56 Y-o-Y), going from the year-ago 34 cases to just 15 in the first three months of this year.
Conversely, Monmouth County experienced a 105% Y-o-Y surge in first-time foreclosures. This resulted in 88 first-time cases to make Monmouth County the metro’s most active New Jersey market, as well. Granted, this was also influenced by the 9% Y-o-Y slowdown in Essex County, which brought this market’s caseload down to 87 new filings. Bergen County was next with 76 cases, which was the result of a 3% Y-o-Y uptick.
Finally, Hudson County — which was the only one to see cases rise last year — remained flat with 37 cases. Similarly, Hunterdon County was also unchanged to maintain its status as the metro’s least-active foreclosure market with just 11 first-time filings.
See how first-time foreclosures evolved in Q1 2025 across metro New York:
Methodology
Having tracked foreclosure listings for more than a decade, PropertyShark is the only service in New York that guarantees 100% coverage of the local foreclosure market. Because auctions are frequently postponed and/or rescheduled, the statistics referenced in this report include only first-time foreclosures in order to avoid over-reporting the number of distressed properties in the city.
This report focuses on residential properties (single and two-family homes; condos; and co-op units) that were scheduled for auction for the first time in Q1 2025 in metro New York.
Metro New York was defined as a 24-county area comprising:
- 5 NYC counties: New York (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Queen (Queens), Bronx (The Bronx) and Richmond (Staten Island).
- 2 Long Island counties: Nassau and Suffolk.
- 3 Lower Hudson Valley counties: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester.
- 2 Mid-Hudson Valley counties: Dutchess and Orange.
- 7 North Jersey counties: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Union.
- 5 Central Jersey counties: Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Somerset.
This report also includes data on NYC commercial properties that went into foreclosure in Q1 2025.
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