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INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION
MARKET STILL
AT RISK OF
FUTURE 'ZOMBIE'
PROPERTY WAVE
Among the country's stock of some 99
million residential properties, abandoned or
vacant foreclosed-upon homes (or "zombie"
properties, as they have come to be known) so
far in Q1 2021 represented just one out of every
14,825. at is down from 13,074 in 2020 Q4,
according to the property analysts at ATTOM
Data Solutions.
"ese days, you can walk through most
neighborhoods in the United States and not spot
a single zombie foreclosure. at continues a
remarkable turnaround from the last recession
when many communities were dotted by
abandoned properties," said Todd Teta, Chief
Product Officer with ATTOM. "e trend
does remain on thin ice because foreclosures
are temporarily on hold, and the market is still
at risk of another wave of zombie properties
when the moratorium is lifted, depending on
the general state of the broader economy. For
the moment, though, zombie properties remain
pretty much a non-issue in the vast majority of
the country."
Northeastern and midwestern states
continue to see the highest number of zombie
properties in the first quarter, with New York at
2,064; Florida with 926, Illinois with 759, Ohio
at 633, and New Jersey with 363 zombies. In the
West, California tops the list but only saw 130
zombie properties statewide.
"It's good to see the number of zombie
foreclosures continue to fall," said Rick Sharga,
EVP at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Data
Solutions company. "But states with vacant
properties caught in long judicial foreclosure
processes should take steps to accelerate the
disposition of those properties. is would
reduce the health risks of having homes vacant
during a pandemic and provide much-needed
affordable housing inventory to prospective
homebuyers."
In a nutshell, first-quarter 2021 data
shows that empty homes at some point in the
foreclosure process continue to disappear as
the housing market remains strong and the
federal government keeps trying to protect
homeowners from an economic slide stemming
from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.