When I got my real estate license in 2010, foreclosures were a pretty typical part of my business. It was common for my clients in my first 5 years to request the most recent foreclosure list and for us to see a few. I found myself in the courts more than a handful of times representing buyers, and sometimes even banks. Most producing agents I knew during that time knew the court ordered procedure like the back of their hand, because even if you hadn’t been to the courts, you’d have definitely shown multiple foreclosure properties, the listing agents always made sure you were aware of the proceedings, and it was a regular subject at office meetings. Today, this is, thankfully, far from common knowledge or practice.

Yet as I write this in early December 2025, the number of court ordered sales this year in the three Lower Mainland real estate boards hit 218. This is exactly double the 109 homes that were foreclosed in 2022. While this is actually lower than 2024’s 246 court ordered sales, we still have a few weeks left for a good portion of the region’s 298 (as of 2:30pm on December 5) active court ordered listings to sell by the end of the year.

History Lesson: The 2009-2015 “Norm”

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board registered more court ordered sales in 2010, 2011 and 2012 than the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver – despite having 33% less overall sales. There were a total of 431 court ordered sales in the detached & attached home sale market in the Fraser Valley in 2012 – the highest registered for our board; this was just shy of 3.5% of all sales. Greater Vancouver would eclipse this number in 2013 and 2014, with 438 and 455, respectively. Chilliwack’s foreclosure scene lagged behind, peaking in 2015 at 141 sales – 4.93% of their sales that year. The worse year for foreclosures throughout the Lower Mainland was 2014, with 945 court ordered sales – 4.4% of all sales.

These numbers would collapse years later, reaching a low point in 2018, with a regional (all three boards) total of 106 court ordered sales (less than 0.8% of sales). This total number would fluctuate in the 170-190 range over the next few years before hitting another low of 109 sales in 2022. However, as interest rates shot up that year, so have the delinquencies.

The Current Temperature: Rising Delinquencies

As mentioned, the number of foreclosures this year in the three Lower Mainland real estate boards is slightly less than 2024, although it is possible that we could see that reach parity by December 31 (I count sale dates as the accepted offer date). In the Fraser Valley, we have had 90 foreclosures in 2025 compared to 93 in 2024. For comparison, there were just 24 in 2022.

While foreclosures have held steady so far, at least in 2025 compared to 2024, there are other trends that may suggest that we could be at the start of a foreclosure spike.

The last household bill that most consumers put off is their mortgage or rent. This is simply due to the fact that a credit hit, losing cell/internet service for a little while, or even losing a vehicle is all going to be less impactful than being homeless. Due to this, one important trend line to watch is ratio of non-mortgage delinquencies (non-payments over 90 days). Unfortunately, despite begging Equifax and a few others for pre-2012 data, I came up short for anything that far back. However, this isn’t rocket science. As non-mortgage delinquencies go up, we should start to also expect mortgages to eventually do the same.

The canary in the coal mine is alarming. Non-mortgage delinquencies have been skyrocketing since a low of .9% in 2022 to 1.6% in 2025. Although I don’t have national numbers, I do know that the Toronto non-mortgage delinquency rate hit a peak of 2.53% in 2010. So although we aren’t in that crisis zone yet, this gives you a sense of how concerning the increase has been. If we jumped up another 0.7 percentage points, we would be hitting that sort of 2010 range.

Although households will hold off on being delinquent with their housing as long as possible, the financial reality will eventually hit. In British Columbia, we’ve seen mortgage delinquencies shift from historic 0.11% lows in 2022 and 2023 to 0.16% in 2024 and 0.19% in 2025. This puts us back to 2017 levels. Although I don’t have pre-2012 data on this, I do know that those peak foreclosure 2012-2014 years hit mortgage delinquency levels of 0.40%-0.43%.

What To Expect in 2026-27?

It’s difficult to do a direct comparison with the pre-2010 era because we simply don’t have the data. However, there are reasons to believe that, although we will likely see foreclosures continue to rise in 2026, that we shouldn’t expect the type of numbers we experienced in 2009-2015.

One significant reason is the amount of equity in most homes – at least today. Although our markets witnessed large increases in 2005-06, it was nothing like what we saw in 2016 or 2021 value appreciations. These boom years added insulated equity that, so long as the market doesn’t free fall, most households will have options to avoid foreclosures.

As it’s been well reported, there are still a significant number of mortgage renewals coming up in 2026 due to the 2021 sales spike that saw many homeowners opt for low-rate 5 year terms. The upcoming renewals will definitely shift the market. However, so long as you didn’t purchase a home at the most recent peak of the market, the simplest way to avoid delinquency is to downsize. This is still an option for many people who might not be able to afford their mortgage renewal. This is very unlike 2009, where there simply wasn’t enough equity built over 5-10 years to cushion homeowners experiencing a crisis.

This isn’t to say that everyone will have this option. My largest concern is looking at the Spring 2021 sales spike, which will likely mean that February-April 2026 will have a glut of mortgage renewals for people who bought as the market was rapidly climbing due to low interests now in a market that won’t be so favourable. If the industry’s benchmark values are to be believed, however, these homeowners should have still been able to build enough equity to insulate them from something as extreme as a foreclosure. Yet if there is a “sell off” of higher inventory levels, this could put downward pressure on the market.

As we head into the 5 year period from the peak values of the market – which was spring of 2022 – this is where things might get tougher. In all honesty, however, looking as far ahead as 2027 is highly speculative. There are so many variables at play that could see home values rise well through later 2026 and early 2027 to offset those concerns. One such variable could be lower rates, especially if consumer spending weakens throughout 2026. The simple fact is we just don’t know. I’ve yet to see any economist, professional or armchair, get such speculation on the money over the past couple of decades.

Part 2: The Court Ordered Sale Process & What Buyers Need to Know

In part 2, I’m going to walk you through the full court order process, from how it goes from the foreclosure proceedings to the MLS to the court. I’ll also provide a high level overview of what buyers need to know before moving forward with a court ordered sale: it isn’t for everyone.