There are more than 1.5 million U.S. single-family homes and condos vacant in the third quarter of 2019, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
The vacant homes identified in ATTOM’s report represent 1.6 percent of all homes nationwide, down by nearly 22 percent since ATTOM’s last foreclosure vacancy report in 2016.
Of the vacant homes and condos identified, 304,000 homes were in the process of foreclosure, with about 3.2 percent being “zombie” foreclosures, ATTOM found.
“The blight of vacant, decaying properties facing foreclosure has declined dramatically across the United States – another good-news offshoot of the housing boom that’s gone on for eight years,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release. “A handful of areas still face notable problems with homes abandoned by owners after they get hit with foreclosure claims.”
“But with the economy improving and the housing market still hot, an expanding number of neighborhoods across the country face little or no problem with these so-called zombie properties,” Teta added.
According to the report, Washington, D.C. had the highest percentage of zombie foreclosures (12.5 percent). ATTOM said states where the rates were above the national average of 3.2 percent included Oregon (8.8 percent); Maine (8.5 percent); Kansas (7.6 percent); and New Mexico (7 percent). New Hampshire, Idaho, Colorado, Connecticut and Delaware all had rates below 1.4 percent.
Peoria, Ill. had the highest percent of vacant foreclosure (16.5 percent); followed Wichita, Kan. (9.5 percent); Syracuse, N.Y. (9.3 percent); Honolulu (8.5 percent) and Youngstown, OH. (8.4 percent).
New York had the highest number of zombie properties (2,428); followed by Florida (1,634); Illinois (985); Ohio (891); and New Jersey (463).