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93 93 INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION Home values dipped over the Summer of this year amid rising interest rates, a declining stock market, and soaring inflation that have cut into what buyers can afford. However, that has yet to significantly boost the presence of vacant properties in foreclosure. Zombie Foreclosures Inch Up Again but Re- main a Small Portion of the Overall Market A total of 7,722 residential properties facing possible foreclosure have been vacated by their owners nationwide in Q4 of 2022, up slightly from 7,707 in Q3 of 2022 and 7,432 in Q4 of 2021. While zombie foreclosures continue to be few and far between in most neighborhoods around the U.S., the biggest increases from the third quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2022 in states with at least 50 zombie properties are in Kansas (zombie properties +32%, from 44 to 58); Nevada (+25% from 81 to 101); Connecticut (+15%, from 65 to 75); Georgia (+15% from 72 to 83); and Indiana (+13% from 239 to 270). e biggest quarterly decreases among states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures are in Mich- igan (zombie properties -23%, from 99 to 76); New Jersey (-12% from 240 to 211); North Caro- lina (-10% from 144 to 130); Ohio (-9% from 925 to 841); and Maine (-7% from 72 to 67). New York has the highest overall number of zombie homes to all residential properties (1,995 pre-foreclosure vacant properties), followed by Florida (1,030), Ohio (841), Illinois (780), and Pennsylvania (368). "Low vacancy rates are also a major factor in there being few zombie homes," Sharga added. "And with demand from both traditional home- buyers and investors still relatively strong, and the inventory of homes for sale still very low, vacancy rates for residential homes is about as low as it's ever been," Overall Vacancy Rates Dip for ird Straight Quarter e vacancy rate for all residential properties in the U.S. has dropped for three quarters in a row. It now stands at 1.26% (one in 79 properties), down from 1.28% in Q3 of 2022 (one in 78) and from 1.33% in Q4 of last year (one in 75). States with the biggest annual drops are Tennessee (down from 2.3% of all homes in Q4 of 2021 to 1.25% in Q4 of this year), Minnesota (down from 1.18% to 0.81%), Wisconsin (down from 1.02% to 0.69%), Georgia (down from 1.79% to 1.5%) and Oregon (down from 1.14% to 0.94%). High-level findings from Q4 of 2022: » Among metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. with at least 100,000 residential properties and at least 100 properties facing possible foreclosure in Q4 of 2022, the highest zombie rates are in Wichita (12.7% of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Peoria, Illinois (9.9%; Syracuse, New York (8.2%); Toledo, Ohio (7.8%); and Cleveland, Ohio (7.1%). » Aside from Cleveland, the highest zom- bie-foreclosure rates in major metro areas with at least 500,000 residential properties and at least 100 homes facing foreclosure in Q4 of 2022 are in Baltimore, Maryland (6.1% of homes in the foreclosure process are vacant); Pittsburgh, (5.6%); Portland, Oregon (5.5%); and Indianapolis, Indiana (5.4%). » Among the 26.8 million investor-owned homes throughout the U.S. in Q4 of 2022, about 868,000 are vacant, or 3.2%. e highest levels of vacant investor-owned homes are in Indiana (6.8% vacant); Kansas (5.8%); Oklahoma (5.3%); Alabama (5.3%); and Ohio (5.2%). » Among the roughly 5,000 foreclosed, bank-owned homes in the U.S. during Q4 of 2022, 9.3% are vacant. In states with at least 50 bank-owned homes, the largest vacancy rates are in Illinois (21.2% vacant); Ohio (13.3%); New York (12.3%); Florida (11.4%); and Maryland (11.2%). » e highest zombie-foreclosure rates in U.S. counties with at least 500 properties in the foreclosure process during the fourth quarter of 2022 are in Baltimore County, Maryland (12.4% zombie foreclosures); Broome County (Binghamton), New York (11.5%); Peoria County, Illinois (11.2%); Pinellas County (Clearwater), Florida (9%); and Onondaga County (Syracuse), New York (8.6%). » Among 424 counties with at least 50,000 residential properties homes facing possible foreclosure in Q4 of 2022, zombie foreclo- sures represent the highest portion of over- all residential properties in Broome County (Binghamton), New York (one of every 620 properties); Peoria County, Illinois (one of every 1,184); Cuyahoga County (Cleve- land), Ohio (one of every 1,226); Suffolk County, New York (eastern Long Island) (one of every 1,259), and Bronx County, New York (one of every 1,347). "Low vacancy rates are also a major factor in there being few zombie homes. And with demand from both traditional homebuyers and investors still relatively strong, and the inventory of homes for sale still very low, vacancy rates for residential homes is about as low as it's ever been." —Rick Sharga, Executive VP of Market Intelligence, ATTOM