North Dakota Pre-Foreclosures Up 46% in One Year

Rising Tide of Pre-Foreclosures in North Dakota Signals Deepening Housing Insecurity

North Dakota is Seeing a Surge in Pre-Foreclosure Activity in 2024 — and Struggling Homeowners Are Feeling the Weight

In the quiet prairie towns and oil boom cities of North Dakota, the ripple effects of a changing economy are murmuring louder. For many homeowners, they’re threatening to become a wave. The number of homes entering the pre-foreclosure process in North Dakota has climbed steadily in 2024, a signal of growing financial distress in a state that, for many years, seemed immune to housing volatility.

In September 2024, North Dakota recorded 22 pre-foreclosure filings. That may not sound like much compared to larger states grappling with deep housing crises. But it represents a 46.67% increase from the same month last year, when only 15 households found themselves on the brink of losing their homes. It also marks a continued uptick from August, when 21 pre-foreclosures were recorded a month-over-month increase of 4.76%.

This isn’t a one-off fluctuation. From 2005 to 2014, North Dakota’s yearly pre-foreclosure numbers hovered in the single digits, a reflection of its stable economy and relatively affordable housing market. But those days appear to be slipping away. By 2017, the state saw a spike to 143 pre-foreclosures. The number surged in 2019, dipped during the pandemic moratoriums, then hit a record 243 pre-foreclosures in 2023. And with 175 already in the first nine months of 2024, the state is on track to break that record.

What’s Fueling the Surge?

The list of culprits is long and familiar: stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, softening job markets, and an affordability crisis. Reaching even places like North Dakota, where housing used to be a sanctuary from national-level cost pressures.

“Housing wasn’t supposed to be a problem here,” said Melissa T., a 39-year-old single mom from Minot. “But with fewer work hours and rising costs, I couldn’t keep up with the mortgage. I tried everything, but the letter still came.”

Melissa is one of many North Dakotans recently receiving a Notice of Default, a formal warning that foreclosure may begin without action. For many families, it’s the first signal that the financial house of cards they’ve been maintaining is starting to collapse.

Economic data supports Melissa’s story. As energy markets have cooled and job openings in sectors like construction and oilfield services have narrowed, households without financial cushions have found themselves in peril. Wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living. In most cases, in towns that saw housing prices spike during the oil booms of the 2010s. And unlike in 2020 or 2021, there are no longer government safety nets to soften the blow.

The Human Cost Behind the Numbers

There’s a tendency to talk about foreclosures in charts and statistics, but behind each one is a person, a family, a loss.

Harold and Diane M., retired farmers living near Bismarck, entered the pre-foreclosure process this summer after a medical emergency drained their savings. “We thought we’d done everything right,” Harold said quietly, looking out on the land he’s worked his entire life. “But one illness, a few missed payments… and now we might have to leave.”

The couple’s story is not unique.