The number of vacant “zombie” homes headed toward foreclosure inched down by a little over 1% on a consecutive-quarter basis and 2% from a year ago, according to Attom Data Solutions.
More than 7,432 residential properties vacated by their owners were in this category in the fourth quarter, down from 7,538 during
The shallower decline seen in the numbers suggests that they could be poised to slowly start to rise again in the wake of
“Zombie foreclosures are in a holding pattern this quarter — at least for now,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at Attom, in a press release. “They’re still totally off the radar screen in most parts of the country, with none in most neighborhoods, but that’s probably going to change soon.”
However, market indicators point to an increase that will likely be gradual.
“Market dynamics — strong demand coupled with historically low inventory of homes for sale — suggest that we shouldn’t see a significant increase in zombie foreclosure properties anytime soon,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Attom affiliate RealtyTrac.
To date, zombie foreclosures have fallen on a consecutive quarter and 12 month basis in half of all states, according to Attom. Numbers have remained particularly high in states like New York (2,049), Ohio (925), Florida (907), Illinois (758) and Pennsylvia (356).
The highest zombie rates for metropolitan statistical areas with at least 100,000 residential properties and at least 100 facing foreclosure were: Portland, Ore. (15.3%); Wichita, Kan. (15%); Cleveland, Ohio (11.7%); Fort Wayne, Ind. (11%); and Honolulu (10.6%)
Calculations were based on an analysis of county tax assessor data for 99 million properties broken down by foreclosure status and owner occupancy.
