According to ATTOM’s just released Q4 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, the number of residential properties in the U.S. that sit vacant in the fourth quarter dropped slightly, representing just 1.3 percent, or one in 75 homes nationwide, down from 1.4 percent, or one in 74 homes in Q3 2021.
ATTOM’s latest vacant properties analysis showed that among the 223,256 U.S. residential properties in the process of foreclosure, 7,432 have been abandoned into zombie status in Q4 2021. The report noted that the number of “zombie homes” is down from Q3 2021 by 1.4 percent and Q4 2020 by 2.4 percent. In contrast, the number of pre-foreclosure homes across the nation is up 3.6 percent from Q3 2021 and 11.6 percent from Q4 2020.
ATTOM’s Q4 2021 vacant property and zombie foreclosure report noted that the zombie foreclosure rate nationwide, also dropped slightly from 3.5 percent in Q3 2021 to 3.3 percent in Q4 2021. According to the report, zombie counts are likely to increase over the coming year, following the end of the 15-month foreclosure moratorium.
In the meantime, the latest vacant properties analysis revealed that among states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures in Q4 2021, the biggest decreases from Q3 2021 to Q4 2021, are in Georgia (zombie foreclosures down 29 percent, from 91 to 65), Kentucky (down 10 percent, from 58 to 52), Oklahoma (down 9 percent, from 114 to 104), Connecticut (down 6 percent from 66 to 62) and Illinois (down 6 percent, from 805 to 758).
ATTOM’s latest vacant properties analysis also reported that six of the seven states with the most zombie foreclosures are in the Northeast and Midwest, with New York continuing to have the highest number of zombie properties in the U.S. (2,049 in Q4 2021), followed by Ohio (925), Florida (907), Illinois (758) and Pennsylvania (356).
The report noted that among the metro areas included in the analysis with at least 100,000 residential properties and 100 of them facing possible foreclosure, the highest zombie rates in Q4 2021 are in Portland, OR (15.3 percent of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Wichita KS (15 percent); Cleveland, OH (11.7 percent); Fort Wayne, IN (11 percent) and Honolulu, HI (10.6 percent).
ATTOM’s Q4 2021 vacant property and zombie foreclosure report mentioned that the highest zombie-foreclosure rates among counties with at least 500 properties in the foreclosure process in Q4 2021 are in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (13.5 percent of pre-foreclosure homes are empty); Broome County (Binghamton), NY (12.5 percent); Onondaga County (Syracuse), NY (10.4 percent); Pinellas County (Clearwater), FL (9.8 percent) and St. Clair County, IL (outside St. Louis, MO) (7.7 percent).
In this post, we take a deep dive into the data to uncover the top 10 zombi‘fied’ zip codes, or the zip codes with the highest zombie foreclosure rates among those zip codes with at least 1,000 residential properties and 100 of them facing possible foreclosure. Those zips include: 44108 – Cleveland, OH (45.03 percent); 44112 – Cleveland, OH (38.18 percent); 44105 – Cleveland, OH (26.83 percent); 13601 – Watertown, NY (21.55 percent); 44137 – Maple Heights, OH (17.22 percent); 44120 – Cleveland, OH (16.78 percent); 44110 – Cleveland, OH (14.66 percent); 13760 – Endicott, NY (14.53 percent); 44128 – Cleveland, OH (13.91 percent); and 60411 – Chicago Heights, IL (13.11 percent).
ATTOM’s Q3 2021 vacant properties report also noted that vacancy rates for all residential properties in the U.S. declined further to 1.33 percent in Q4 2021, or one in 75 properties. That number is down from 1.35 percent in Q3 2021, or one in 74, and 1.56 percent in Q4 2020, or one in 64.
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