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96 The Big Finish Wrap your head around the market's leading indicators. A LOOK AT VACANT PROPERTIES AND ZOMBIE HOMES ATTOM Data Solutions in August released its Q3 2020 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, which showed that 1.5 million (1,570,265) residential properties in the United States are vacant, representing 1.6% of all homes. e report shows that about 216,000 homes are in the process of foreclosure, with about 7,960, or 3.7%, sitting empty as so-called "zombie foreclosures." e count of properties in the process of foreclosure (215,886) in the third quarter of 2020 is down 16% from the second quarter of 2020 (258,024). But the percentage of those properties that have been abandoned as zombie foreclosures is up from 3% in Q2 of 2020.Despite the increase, the 7,961 zombie foreclosure properties continue to represent just a tiny portion—one of every 12,500 homes—of the nation's stock of 99.4 million residential properties. e Q3 2020 data shows a drop in the number of homes at some point in the foreclosure process, but an increase in the level sitting vacant at a time when the federal government is trying to shield the housing market from an economic slide stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Among the government's key measures is a temporary prohibition against lenders foreclosing on government-backed mortgages. e Northeast and Midwest have highest ratios of zombie foreclosure as portion of all residential properties. Despite increases in the rates of zombie foreclosures in the third quarter of 2020, those properties represent just one in every 12,486 residential properties of all kinds in the United States, including those not facing possible bank takeover. AREAS WITH HIGHEST ZOMBIE FORECLOSURE RATES Market Percentage of Properties in Foreclosure Process Peoria, Illinois 16.4% Wichita, Kansas 15.3% Kansas City, Missouri 13.4% Omaha, Nebraska 12.7% Cleveland 12.6% HIGHEST OVERALL VACANCY RATES FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES State Vacancy Rate Kansas 2.7% Mississippi 2.7% Oklahoma 2.7% Tennessee 2.6% Indiana 2.5% HIGHEST LEVELS OF VACANT INVESTOR-OWNED HOMES State Percentage Vacant Indiana 8.5% Kansas 6.8% Ohio 6.5% Rhode Island 6.3% Mississippi 6.1%