The number of homes abandoned by their owners just before foreclosure has continued to increase for a second consecutive quarter in 2022, as the number of foreclosure cases continue to rise. These types of vacancies are commonly referred to as “zombie homes” or “zombie properties.”
According to real estate data provider, Attom, a total of 7,707 residential properties facing foreclosures have been vacated by their owners in the third quarter of 2022, increasing by 1.8 percent from 7,569 from the prior quarter. These numbers are up 2.2 percent from 7,538 vacated in the prior year. This increase represents the second consecutive quarterly increase in the number of zombie properties.
However, despite the increase in zombie properties, the number of vacancies in all other U.S. properties has decreased to under 1.3 million. This total is down from 1.31 percent reported during the second quarter and 1.35 percent from a year ago.
Attom reports two different types of trends heading in what are essentially opposite directions. One the one hand, the number of zombie properties continues to rise, while the number of vacant properties has continued to decrease. Despite these different trends, experts do not see any reason to be concerned.
Currently, the total number of zombie properties in the U.S. represents one home in every 12,947 homes as being vacant during the pre-foreclosure stage. Three months ago, the number of zombie properties was one in every 13,424 homes.
Attom reports that even though the number of homeowners entering the foreclosure process has increased by a larger number, the number of zombie properties still makes up only 2.8 percent of pre-foreclosure volume when compared to earlier reporting periods. As of the second quarter of 2022, they accounted for 2.9 percent. One year ago, they represented a larger share of 3.5 percent.
Housing experts believe that the number of zombie properties will continue to increase slowly as foreclosure activity increases. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreclosure activity has been at a historical low, due mostly to the governmental programs that were implemented to keep people in their homes during the pandemic. Now that these programs are ending, foreclosure activity is expected to pick back up.
In fact, courts are seeing that foreclosure activity increase. As of three months ago, the number of homes in the foreclosure legal process increased by 4.4 percent to 270,470 total homes. This increase is up 25.5 percent from the same quarter in the previous year.
The state of Oklahoma saw the largest increase of zombie properties with figures rising 22 percent from 97 homes to 118 homes between the second and third quarters. Missouri saw the second largest increase with the number of zombie properties increasing 16 percent from 55 to 64 homes. California came in third with a 15 percent increase from 221 to 254 homes.
The Cleveland metropolitan had the highest percentage of zombie properties with 8.9 percent, followed by Baltimore at 7.4 percent and St. Louis and Pittsburg, both at 5.6 percent.
Housing experts believe that vacancy rates will continue to be low due to the housing market still seeing an upswing. Investors and home buyers are still completing for properties that are on the market, including homes that are vacant. While the housing market continues to do well, they believe vacant properties, although growing, should only slowly increase.
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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between keeping your home or losing it in foreclosure. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure, please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade Garcia McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.
