Vacant “Zombie” Foreclosures Increase Nationally
ATTOM Data Solutions, Q1 2020 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, released at the end of February, analyzed publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM Data Solutions, including foreclosure status, equity and owner-occupancy status, matched against monthly updated vacancy data.
According to the report, about 282,800 homes are in the process of foreclosure, with about 8,700, or 3.1% sitting empty as “zombie” foreclosures. The percentage is up from 3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, but still significantly less than 5.8% in the first quarter of 2014.
The total number of properties in the process of foreclosure in the first quarter of 2020 is down 1.9% from the fourth quarter of 2019, while the number of vacant foreclosures is up 1.7%, meaning that the level of zombie properties rose while the count of foreclosures dipped. Since 2016, the number facing possible foreclosure is down 27%, while the tally of unoccupied properties in the foreclosure pipeline has declined 53%.
Zombie foreclosures continue to represent just a fragment of the 1.52 million vacant homes nationwide, comprising just one in every 175 properties, or less than one percent. The highest overall vacancy rates for all residential properties continue to be in Tennessee (2.6%), Kansas (2.6%), Mississippi (2.5%), Oklahoma (2.5%) and Indiana (2.5%). The lowest remain in New Hampshire (0.4%), Vermont (0.4%), Delaware (0.5%), Idaho (0.6%) and North Dakota (0.7%).
