RISMedia
  • News
  • Premier
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Education
  • Newsmakers
  • Power Broker
No Result
View All Result
  • Agents
  • Brokers
  • Teams
  • Marketing
  • Coaching
  • Technology
  • More
    • Headliners New
    • Luxury
    • Best Practices
    • Consumer
    • National
    • Our Editors
Join Premier
Sign In
RISMedia
  • News
  • Premier
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Education
  • Newsmakers
  • Power Broker
No Result
View All Result
RISMedia
No Result
View All Result

Zombies Lurch, Foreclosures Rise

Home Agents
By Jesse Williams
June 2, 2022
Reading Time: 2 mins read
Zombies Lurch, Foreclosures Rise

As analysts and real estate insiders widely expect a housing market pullback in the coming months, there is a possibility this will correlate with a return of something many remember as the ugliest signs of the 2008 crash—namely, zombies.

These so-called “zombie foreclosures,” which are homes that are being foreclosed and are also vacated or abandoned, ticked up quarter-to-quarter for the first time since the federal eviction moratorium lifted in the fall of last year, according to the latest report from ATTOM Data Solutions. 

Even as some might be alarmed even at this relatively minor increase of 1.9%, ATTOM Executive Vice President Rick Sharga said in a statement the zombie incursion remains more of a “Little Monsters” level threat, rather than a looming “World War Z.”

“According to our equity report, almost 90% of homeowners in foreclosure have positive equity. Having equity gives financially-distressed homeowners an opportunity for a relatively soft landing—selling their home at a profit rather than losing everything to a foreclosure,” he said. “That factor alone should keep the number of zombie-foreclosures from rising too much.”

Still making up an almost insignificant proportion of properties nationwide—7,569 out of almost 100 million residential properties nationwide. Zombie pre-foreclosures have also continued to decline, down 2.9% from last quarter, meaning that more recent foreclosure filings seemingly aren’t pushing homeowners to abandon their properties.

Sharga said he attributes the increase to factors preceding the pandemic, and only just now showing up in data.

“The incidence of zombie-foreclosures tends to be higher in cases where the foreclosure process has dragged on for many months and sometimes even for years,” he said. “We’re now seeing properties where the borrower was already in default prior to the government’s moratorium re-enter the foreclosure process, and undoubtedly some of these homes will have been vacated over the past 26 months.”

Still alive

While an increase of zombies is never a good thing, possibly more alarming is the significant jump in foreclosures broadly—up 12.7% from Q1 of this year. A total of 259,166 homes are in foreclosure.

That is a significant increase, the largest since the moratorium was lifted, with ATTOM’s data revealing low-single digit increases quarter-to-quarter as mortgage lenders seemingly were willing to work with distressed homeowners rather than beginning the foreclosure process. Other pandemic era protections and aid also figured in, with no huge spike in foreclosures at the end of the moratorium.

Pre-foreclosures have also climbed at a steady pace, up for the third straight quarter, though zombie pre-foreclosures are down 2.9% this quarter.

The report said these trends can be included in “a list of measures” indicating a possible slowdown this year, even as the market currently appears strong.

Zombie sectors

The largest state-wide increases in zombie properties occurred in Michigan (a 74% increase in zombies), Arizona (up 56%), Georgia (up 29%), Nevada (up 26%) and Iowa (up 17%). The proportion of investor-owned zombies actually fell fractionally, from 3.4% to 3.2%.

Qualifying metros with the highest rate of zombified foreclosure properties were Peoria, Illinois (11.3% of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Wichita, Kansa (11.2%); Cleveland, Ohio (9.5%); Syracuse, New York (8.9%) and South Bend, Indiana (8.6%).

Overall vacancy rates across the country fell slightly, at 1.30 million, down from 1.35 million last quarter

Of all qualifying counties—those with at least 500 properties in the foreclosure process—only one boasted zero zombie properties in Q2 of 2022. That safe zone was Contra Costa County outside of Oakland, California.

Tags: foreclosed propertyforeclosure filingforeclosure saleforeclosure startsMortgage Lenderreo propertieszombie foreclosure
ShareTweetShare

Jesse Williams

Jesse Williams is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news to jwilliams@rismedia.com.

Related Posts

Break a Leg: How Acting Techniques Can Enhance Your Pitch
Agents

Break a Leg: How Acting Techniques Can Enhance Your Pitch

June 26, 2022
Thoughts on Leadership: Beyond the Good or Great
Brokers

Thoughts on Leadership: Beyond the Good or Great

June 26, 2022
One-of-a-Kind Houston Penthouse Sells for $6.9 Million
Best Practices

One-of-a-Kind Houston Penthouse Sells for $6.9 Million

June 25, 2022
Headliners Week of 6/19 – 6/25
Headliners

Headliners Week of 6/19 – 6/25

June 24, 2022
Harvard ‘State of Housing’ Charts Path Forward
Agents

Harvard ‘State of Housing’ Charts Path Forward

June 24, 2022
New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise Sharply in May
Agents

New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise Sharply in May

June 24, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tip of the Day

4 Ways to Get Ready for the Summer Market

From leveraging the sunshine in your networking to dropping FaceTime for actual face time with clients, here are a few... Read more.

Business Tip of the Day provided by
REGISTER NOW

Recent Posts

  • Break a Leg: How Acting Techniques Can Enhance Your Pitch
  • Thoughts on Leadership: Beyond the Good or Great
  • One-of-a-Kind Houston Penthouse Sells for $6.9 Million

Categories

  • Spotlights
  • Best Practices
  • Advice
  • Marketing
  • Technology
  • Social Media

The Most Important Real Estate News & Events

Click below to receive the latest real estate news and events directly to your inbox.

Sign Up
By signing up, you agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

About Blog Our Products Our Team Contact Advertise/Sponsor Media Kit Email Whitelist Terms & Policies

© 2022 RISMedia. All Rights Reserved. Design by Real Estate Webmasters.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Premier
  • News
    • Agents
    • Brokers
    • Teams
    • Consumer
    • Marketing
    • Coaching
    • Technology
    • Headliners New
    • Luxury
    • Best Practices
    • National
    • Our Editors
  • Publications
    • Real Estate Magazine
    • Past Issues
    • Custom Covers
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Podcasts
    • Event Coverage
  • Education
    • Get Licensed
    • REALTOR® Courses
    • Continuing Education
    • Luxury Designation
    • Real Estate Tools
  • Newsmakers
    • 2022 Newsmakers
    • 2021 Newsmakers
    • 2020 Newsmakers
    • 2019 Newsmakers
  • Power Broker
    • 2022 Power Broker
    • 2021 Power Broker
    • 2020 Power Broker
    • 2019 Power Broker
  • Join Premier
  • Sign In

© 2022 RISMedia. All Rights Reserved. Design by Real Estate Webmasters.

RISMEDIA PREMIER CONTENT

INSIGHTS THAT ELEVATE YOUR VALUE

logo-rismedia-white
x