The number of home foreclosures across the U.S. grew 28 percent in this year’s third quarter, year over year, reaching 124,539, real estate research service ATTOM reported.

Bank repossessions, default notices, and scheduled auctions are now up 34 percent, compared to last year at this time.

“Foreclosure starts are nearly back to where they were two years ago when the federal government lifted a [COVID]-related moratorium,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber wrote in a statement announcing the figures.

Foreclosures are likely to increase further now that the suspension of student loan payments ended last month, analysts told Fox Business.

About 44 million Americans carry such debt. The average monthly payment for students who borrowed to earn a bachelor’s degree is $284, while those who pursued a master’s degree have an average monthly nut of $584, BestColleges.com said.

The monthly tab is about $10 billion a month, JPMorgan Chase calculated.

Resumption of those loan payments also will cut the number of home purchases for at least a year, according to three-quarters of the economists in a Pulsenomics survey; roughly 40 percent said the reduction would last at least three years.

TREND FORECAST: Consumers already are crushed by debt, a trend we have tracked through articles including “Consumer Debt Soars” (13 Jul 2021), “U.S. Consumers: Deep in Debt, Buying More” (30 May 2023), and “U.S. Consumers Continue to Pile Up Huge Credit Card Debts” (19 Sep 2023).

Massive consumer debt will collide with sustained higher interest rates and a slowing economy to drive more households into home foreclosures and bankruptcy and push the U.S. economy closer to recession, which we expect in the first half of next year.