According to the ATTOM Data’s Q4 2022 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were 1.3 million (1,277,162) residential properties in the United States sitting vacant, representing 1.3%, or one in 78 homes. A report also reveals that 270,470 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure in Q3 of this year, up 4.4% from Q2, 2022 and up 25.5% from Q3 of 2021. ATTOM says this latest increase marks the 4th straight quarter that pre-foreclosure properties have increased since a nationwide moratorium on lenders pursuing delinquent homeowners was lifted last July.
However, among those pre-foreclosure properties, 7,722 are zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 0.2% from Q3 and 3.9% from one year ago. In addition, the count of zombie properties has grown in each of the last three quarters.
“The government’s foreclosure moratorium dramatically reduced the number of properties in foreclosure…Vacant and abandoned properties were among the few homes that could still be foreclosed on during the moratorium, so the number of zombie properties shrank as well. Now that the foreclosure ban has been lifted, we’re likely to see a gradual return to pre-pandemic levels.” Said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM.
Click here to read the full report at ATTOM.
