Just 1.6% of homes in the U.S.—or 1.5 million residential properties—are vacant. Of those, 7,960 are considered “zombie foreclosures,” or those still in limbo in the foreclosure process, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2020 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.
The number of properties in the foreclosure process has dropped 16% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, but the number of abandoned zombie foreclosures has increased 3% in that period, ATTOM reports. Yet the increase is coming at a time when the federal government and lenders have provided foreclosure moratoriums to help prevent homeowners from losing their home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zombie foreclosure rates are exceeding national percentages in the Midwest and South, ATTOM Data reports. The states with the highest percentages include Kansas (15%), Missouri (11.2%), Georgia (11%), Kentucky (10.7%), and Tennessee (10.3%).
Meanwhile, states in the Northeast and West have some of the lowest number of zombie foreclosures. Utah, Idaho, New Jersey, Colorado, and California are seeing some of the fewest.
The following chart illustrates the 10 most “zombified” ZIP codes in the U.S., according to ATTOM Data Solutions.
The report also reveals the states with the highest level of investor-owned homes are Indiana (8.5%), Kansas (6.8%), Ohio (6.5%), Rhode Island (6.3%), and Mississippi (6.1%).
Further, you’re most likely to find a vacant home in these states: Kansas (2.7%), Mississippi (2.7%), Oklahoma (2.7%), Tennessee (2.6%), and Indiana (2.5%).
Source: ATTOM Data Solutions
