The number hasn't been so low for three years…
The 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report by ATTOM reveals a continuous decline in zombie foreclosure rates during the third quarter (Q3) of this year, with about 7,000 sitting vacant. The report stated that the figure is slightly above the number in the prior quarter, but down 20.2% from a year ago.
“The latest count of zombie homes continues a long-term pattern of those properties representing only a tiny portion of the nation’s total housing stock - currently at just one of every 14,776 homes around the US. The ratio is about the same as the level of one in 14,724 in the prior quarter, but well down from one in 11,565 in the third quarter of last year, marking the lowest level since early 2021. Zombie foreclosures remain so rare that most local housing markets around the country have little or no issues with the blight and decay those properties can attract and spread,” the report noted.
It also stated that the portion of pre-foreclosure properties that have been abandoned into zombie status ticked up slightly, from 2.9% in the second quarter of 2024 to 3.1% in the current quarter.
Meanwhile, according to the ATTOM report, Connecticut leads the list of states that had the biggest percentage of decreases in zombie property foreclosures from 3Q of 2023 to the same period this year - with zombie properties down 79% (from 87 to 18). This was followed by Oklahoma, down by 78% (from 199 to 43). Iowa’s zombie properties are down by 78%, from 290 to 64, while North Carolina is down by 74% (from 191 to 50), and New Mexico down by 74% (from 95 to 25).
Meanwhile, the only annual increases among states that had at least 50 zombie foreclosures in Q3 of 2023 came in Florida (zombie properties up 64%, from 1,199 to 1,961), Texas (up 63%, from 112 to 183) and New Jersey (up 12%, from 205 to 230), while Georgia’s number stayed the same, at 85, the report noted.
“Zombie foreclosures continue to be a mere blip on the radar screen – one of many measures of the overall strength of the US housing market. After some worries about a rise in abandoned homes following the end of the COVID-era foreclosure clampdown, they remain an anomaly throughout most of the country,” said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber. “One significant factor is the historically high levels of home equity. This provides homeowners who may be struggling with their mortgage payments a strong incentive to negotiate new payment plans, which in turn reduces the number of foreclosures. As a result, fewer owners are simply walking away from their properties like so many did after the Great Recession of the late 2000s.”
Meanwhile, the ATTOM report also revealed that around 1.4 million residential properties in the United States are vacant.
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