Zombie’ Homes Spook Fewer Neighborhoods
Vacant foreclosures – known as “zombies” – plunged 43 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s latest U.S. Zombie Foreclosure and Vacant Property Report. As of the end of the third quarter, about 20,050 residential properties were in the foreclosure process and vacant, but had not yet been repossessed by the foreclosing lender.
Read more: 10 Places Where Foreclosures Are Problematic
“The overall inventory of homes in the foreclosure process has dropped 36 percent over the past year so it’s not too surprising to see a similarly dramatic drop in vacant zombie foreclosures,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “What is surprising is there are so many vacant homes where the home owners do not appear to be in financial distress — with only 3 percent in foreclosure or bank owned, and only 6 percent that are underwater. More than 63 percent of these vacant homes are not even encumbered by a loan, owned free and clear by the owner. The fact that the home owners are not selling given the recovering real estate market in most areas indicates that many of these properties are in poor condition and in neighborhoods that have been left behind by the housing recovery.”
The following states are still haunted with the most vacant “zombie” foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac’s report:
- New Jersey: 3,997
- Florida: 3,512
- New York: 3,365
- Illinois: 1,187
- Ohio: 1,028
The following states have the highest share of vacant “zombie” foreclosures as a percentage of total vacant properties:
- New Jersey: 9.4%
- New York: 8.2%
- Nevada: 2.7%
- Massachusetts: 2.5%
- Illinois: 2.1%
On a metro level, the following areas had the highest share of vacant “zombie” foreclosures as percentage of all vacant properties:
- Rochester, N.Y.: 14.3%
- Trenton, N.J.: 10.5%
- New York: 10%
- Albany, N.Y.: 7.9%
- Allentown, Pa.: 5.2%
Source: RealtyTrac
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