More than 1.52 million U.S. single-family homes and condos in the United States are vacant, representing 1.5 percent of all homes, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q1 2020 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.
About 282,800 homes are in the process of foreclosure, with about 8,700, or 3.1 percent, sitting empty as zombie foreclosures, according to the report. The percentage of zombie foreclosures is up from 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, but still significantly less than 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014.
“Homes abandoned by owners facing a possible foreclosure remain little more than a blip on the radar across the country, as one of the main scourges of the Great Recession continues to show little or no signs of re-emerging,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release.
“Even with the slight increase in these so-called ‘zombie foreclosures’ so far this year, there are still pockets of distress with elevated numbers of abandoned homes,” Teta said. “But in yet another reflection of how the national housing market is still booming, you can drive through many towns and not pass a single such property.”
The report identified the states that had the greatest zombie foreclosure rate as Ohio (6.8 percent); Indiana (5.1 percent); Illinois (4.7 percent); Oklahoma (4.5 percent); and Maryland (4.3 percent).
ATTOM said New York has the highest number of zombie properties (2,206); followed by Florida (1,390); Ohio (977); Illinois (943); Ohio (823); and Pennsylvania (317).
It said the metropolitan areas with the greatest percentage of zombie foreclosures are Peoria, Ill. (12.7 percent); Cleveland (10.5 percent); Youngstown, Ohio (9.1 percent); Syracuse, N.Y. (8.8 percent); and Knoxville, Tenn. (8.8 percent).
The states with highest overall vacancy rates for all residential properties are Tennessee (2.6 percent); Kansas (2.6 percent); Mississippi (2.5 percent); Oklahoma (2.5 percent); and Indiana (2.5 percent).