mvolkova@imfpubs.com

While the housing market experiences a drought of supply, 1.4 million “zombie” residential properties are sitting vacant, in some stage of foreclosure, according to a second quarter report from ATTOM Data Solutions.

Properties that fall into the “Night of the Living Dead” category are ones where a homeowner vacates a home pre-foreclosure, with the title remaining in their name.

The analytics vendor found that 223,671 units entered foreclosure in 2Q21, a 27.5% sequential increase, while the number of zombie properties jumped 21% this quarter and 5.6% annually.

“The latest numbers show a spike in zombie properties during the second quarter that stands out compared to recent times, especially given the [COVID] moratorium,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “It may simply be due to lenders foreclosing on homes that were already abandoned. We are watching that closely to see what it means and whether it’s the start of a new trend.”

The highest concentration of zombie properties is in New York (2,052), Ohio (1,033), Florida (1,021) and Illinois (897), the report found.