Fewer Vacant and Zombie Properties on the Market

There were 1.4 million vacant single-family homes and condos on the market in the third quarter, representing 1.52 percent of all residential properties, according to new statistics from ATTOM Data Solutions. The third quarter also saw 10,291 vacant "zombie" foreclosures homes, or 3.38 percent of all homes actively in the foreclosure process, a decline from the 14,321 zombie foreclosures recorded one year earlier.

 

The states with the highest share of vacant homes were Tennessee (2.65 percent), Kansas (2.50 percent), Oklahoma (2.49 percent), Mississippi (2.47 percent), and Indiana (2.45 percent). Among 153 metro areas analyzed for this report, the highest share of vacant homes could be found in Flint, Mich. (6.99 percent), Youngstown, Ohio (3.80 percent), Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas (3.71 percent), Myrtle Beach, S.C. (3.70 percent) and Mobile, Ala. (3.69 percent).

 

"The number of vacant foreclosures is now less than one-fourth of the more than 44,000 in 2013 when we first began tracking these zombie homes," said Daren Blomquist, Senior Vice President at ATTOM Data Solutions. "Policy solutions such as land banks designed to mitigate the ripple effects of vacant properties on neighborhoods and cities have had a substantial impact, and a booming housing market in many areas of the country is lifting all boats. There are still high concentrations of zombie homes and other vacant homes in some local markets and submarkets, but those high concentrations are becoming fewer and farther between."

---