The number of U.S. properties considered to be zombie foreclosures is down 20% in the fourth quarter from the prior year, because of the hot housing market, Attom Data Solutions said.
Currently, 7,109 properties in the foreclosure process are vacant and abandoned by their owners. That is a gain over the third quarter's total of 7,007, but down from 8,903 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
That equates to a ratio of one in every 14,776 homes considered to be zombies in the fourth quarter data, significantly lower than the one in 11,565 recorded
It is a sign of the strength of the U.S. housing market, especially coming out of the pandemic when Attom
"Those properties have gone from a plague in many areas of the U.S. following the Great Recession of the late 2000s, when millions of homes fell into foreclosure, to a distant memory in most communities today," Barber said in a press release. "That's unlikely to change much in the near future given that record home prices are keeping home-equity levels at historic highs and foreclosures cases dropping."
Even when a home is abandoned, the inventory shortage is making it likely a buyer would come in and swoop it up, Barber said. That is in line with
Florida, which is
Kansas and Arizona both had a much larger percentage increase, both were starting from lower, double digit bases. Kansas grew to 79 from 35, while Arizona went to 60 from 28.
Overall, Attom found 1.36 million residential properties or 1.3% were considered vacant, similar to the third quarter.
Meanwhile, 215,601 residential properties were in the process of foreclosure in the fourth quarter, down 3.3% from the third quarter of 2024 and 32.8% lower than one year ago.
The
