After years of bidding wars and waived inspections, Denver's once-frenzied housing market is finally catching its breath. Along with that, cooldown has come something more sobering: a small but noticeable rise in foreclosure activity. Local reporting and public records show more foreclosure filings over the past year than during the recent low point, although totals still sit far below the chaos of the Great Recession. Housing counselors and county officials say higher carrying costs and a growing number of homes for sale are starting to squeeze some owners. The trend looks gradual, not catastrophic, but it has definitely landed on the radar of policymakers and neighborhood advocates.
How many foreclosures are we talking about?
Denver's official Public Trustee records list 560 foreclosure starts in 2024, and the county's running totals show several hundred additional starts into 2025, according to the Denver Clerk and Recorder. The office breaks out, starts, withdrawals, and confirmations year by year.
A Jan. 20 segment on 9News reported that 677 foreclosures were started in Denver in 2025, a figure that appears higher than some public tallies but that matched the station's broader coverage of rising filings.
Local market pressures
Market trackers say the balance of power is shifting away from sellers and back toward buyers. Rising inventory and slower sales are forcing some owners to sit longer or swallow price cuts when they would rather cash out quickly. Local reporting showed nearly 10,000 active listings across the metro in spring 2025, a level not seen in years, along with an uptick in delistings and price reductions. Denverite documented the surge in inventory and how it has been reshaping expectations for sellers and brokers on the ground.
Different patterns across counties
The foreclosure story is not playing out the same way everywhere along the Front Range. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that El Paso County saw a sharper rise in activity after the Department of Veterans Affairs ended its pandemic-era moratorium on VA repossessions, while Denver had recorded several hundred notices through midyear compared with 560 the prior year. The Gazette noted that policy changes and program shifts helped drive those localized spikes.
How this fits with national trends
National data firms have also flagged a modest increase in foreclosure starts in early 2025 compared with the pandemic-era lows. Analysts describe the change as a return to more typical levels rather than the opening act of a new housing crisis. That broader pattern helps explain why counties and cities that cleared the decks during emergency pauses are now processing more cases. ATTOM provides state and metro-level data showing that same modest uptick.
Counselors and hotlines are seeing more demand
On the ground, housing counselors and the Colorado Housing Connects hotline report more foreclosure-related calls, especially from veterans and households hit by rising insurance or property tax bills, according to local reporting. Hotline managers and advocates say many homeowners still manage to work out a solution before a foreclosure sale, but they stress that early outreach is critical. Local agencies say resources such as the Colorado Housing Connects line are being tapped more often as pressure builds.
Starts are not the whole story
A foreclosure filing is only the opening move, not the outcome. Denver's Public Trustee tables show a large number of withdrawals and releases compared with confirmed deeds, which means many cases are resolved or pulled before a lender ends up owning the property. That distinction matters. A climbing count of starts signals financial stress, but it does not automatically translate into a wave of vacant or bank-owned houses hitting the market. The detailed confirmation and withdrawal figures in the city tables add that crucial context.
What to watch in 2026
Looking ahead, the key indicators to watch are the monthly Public Trustee updates, mortgage rates, and local policy changes that can either accelerate or slow the foreclosure pipeline. Help is available for households that see trouble coming. The Colorado Housing Connects hotline and Denver's foreclosure help pages list counseling and emergency-assistance options for owners at risk. Reporters and city officials say they will be watching whether 2026 continues this slow uptick in filings or whether new programs and a shifting market start to ease the strain.
