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August 2025
August 2025 ยป
themortgagepoint.com
Vacant REO Auctions:
Affordable Housing Supply
Sources: Auction.com, ATTOM, FHFA
More Vacant REO Auctions Means Less Time Vacant
Sources: Auction.com
Deeper Discounts to After-Repair Value for Vacant
Sources: Auction.com
of 1,323 days in the first quarter of 2022,
immediately after the foreclosure mora-
torium was lifted.
Despite the decrease, vacant REOs
have been in foreclosure longer than oc-
cupied REOs. Occupied REOs brought to
auction on Auction.com in the first quarter
of 2025 had been bank-owned an average
of 268 days, down from 633 days a year ago
and down from 1,306 days in Q1 2022.
Rural Concentration
V
acant REOs available for auction are
heavily concentrated in more rural
areas, with 72% of the Q1 2025 volume in
an area designated as rural by the Census
Bureau. But that doesn't mean the prop-
erties are far from civilization. Only 8%
were in areas designated as Rural-Remote
(25 miles or more away from an urbanized
area), while 30% were within five miles of
an urbanized area.
Among major metro areas, the
biggest annual increases in vacant REO
properties brought to auction in the first
quarter of 2025 were found in Seattle;
Wichita Falls, Texas; Phoenix; Colorado
Springs; and Los Angeles.
Among major metro areas, those
with an above-average share of vacant
REO auctions in the first quarter of 2025
included Houston; Phoenix; Los Angeles;
Riverside, California; and Baltimore.
Sources: Auction.com
REO Auctions: Owner-Occupant Share of Buyers
F E A T U R E S T O R Y
