(KMOX) - A new report shows there are 1,332,706 residential properties in the US that are sitting vacant as zombie properties and a county near St. Louis has one of the highest zombie-foreclosure rates in the country.
If you think you're reading about a zombie apocalypse or some kind of night of the living dead report, let me stop you right here. A zombie foreclosure is when a homeowner moves out after receiving a notice of default, but the foreclosure gets canceled or isn't completed. It means the house remains in the homeowner's name, but they may not even know it, as it is essentially a dead property, growing decrepit over time.
Illinois has the fourth most zombie properties in the country, with 805, behind only New York (2,053) Ohio (939) and Florida (912). And St. Clair County, Illlinois owns the highest zombie-foreclosure rates among counties with at least 500 properties in the state, at 9%.
The latest data comes from ATTOM, the curator of the nation’s premier property database.
To make things even scarier, their experts believe as we approach Halloween there will be an increase in zombie properties.
"First, the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) has authorized lenders to pursue foreclosure proceedings on vacant and abandoned homes now that the government's moratorium is over," said Rick Sharga, Executive Vice President of RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Company. "Second, they've also given the go-ahead to re-start the foreclosure process on loans that were already 120 days delinquent prior to the moratorium, and it's not unlikely that over the past 15 months many of those financially-distressed homeowners have vacated their properties."
Related
Both Missouri and Illinois also have among the largest percentages of bank-owned homes sitting vacant in the US. The top states are Kentucky (40.9%), Ohio (37.2%), Missouri (35.3%), Illinois (25.7%) and Michigan (24.2%).
The third-quarter zombie foreclosure numbers reflect one of many measures showing how strong the U.S. housing market remains, but also one likely to face a downturn to varying degrees across the country over the coming year.
"Vacant properties in foreclosure, and the resulting potential for neighborhood decay, continue to be a non-issue overall in most of the country. But that could easily change over the coming months as lenders are now free to take back properties from delinquent homeowners," said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM. "How much, how fast and where that happens will depend on how different banks approach the situation. Some may decide to vigorously pursue foreclosures to recoup losses from the pandemic while others give homeowners more time to get back on their feet. But it's hard to imagine that zombie foreclosures will continue be so few and far between across the national landscape."
Related
© 2021 KMOX (Audacy). All rights reserved
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Follow KMOX
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram