Around 1.3 million, or 1.3 percent of residential properties across the country, sit vacant, according to ATTOM’s fourth-quarter 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.
The report also indicates that 223,256 residential properties are in the process of foreclosure, up 3.6 percent from the third quarter and 11.6 percent year-over-year. Of those, 7,432 are vacant in the fourth quarter, down quarterly by 1.4 percent and annually by 2.4 percent.
The portion of pre-foreclosure properties that have been abandoned into zombie status dropped slightly from 3.5 percent in the third quarter to 3.3 percent in the fourth. One of every 13,292 homes in the fourth quarter are vacant and in foreclosure, down from one in 13,060 in the third quarter and one in 13,074 last year.
The foreclosure scenario stands at a precipice, according to ATTOM, with zombie counts likely to increase in the coming year due to the recent end of a 15-month foreclosure moratorium. An estimated 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners were in forbearance when the moratorium ended July 31.
“Zombie foreclosures are in a holding pattern this quarter, at least for now,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a 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 because lenders can now return to court and take back properties from owners who can’t keep up on their mortgage payments. Foreclosure activity already is on the upswing. So, depending on how fast cases wind through the courts, it’s probably just a matter of time before zombie properties begin creeping back into the mix.”
Among states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures during the fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly decreases were in Georgia (down 29 percent, from 91 to 65), Kentucky (down 10 percent, from 58 to 52), Oklahoma (down 9 percent, from 114 to 104), Connecticut (down 6 percent from 66 to 62) and Illinois (down 6 percent, from 805 to 758).
New York continues to have the highest number of zombie properties (2,049 in the fourth quarter), followed by Ohio (925), Florida (907), Illinois (758) and Pennsylvania (356).
Vacancy rates dropped year-over-year in all 50 states. Those with the biggest annual drops were Rhode Island (down from 1.8 percent of all homes in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of this year), Oregon (down from 2 percent to 1.1 percent), Mississippi (down from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent), Kentucky (down from 1.8 percent to 1.1 percent) and Maryland (down from 1.6 percent to 1.1 percent).