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IRVINE, CA-California has the third-highest number of vacant homes in foreclosure as of June, according to RealtyTrac, a locally based online source of real estate and foreclosure data. At 9,802 owner-vacant properties, the Golden State fell far behind Florida, with 55,503 owner-vacant homes; and Illinois, with 17,672.
As of June, 20% of all US properties in the foreclosure process had owners who had vacated the properties, These owner-vacated foreclosures are in addition to 544,274 bank-owned homes nationwide that have been foreclosed on but not sold to a third party.
Vacancy rates were higher on lower-end foreclosures, the firm reports. Of homes valued below $50,000 in foreclosure, 29% were vacant as opposed to 25% of homes valued between $50,000 and $100,000. Meanwhile, 12% of homes valued at $1 million or more were vacant. Also, among the five servicers involved in the national mortgage settlement, Bank of America and GMAC (Ally) had the highest percentage of owner-vacated foreclosures (23%), followed by Chase with 21% and Wells Fargo and Citi tied at 20%.
“Somewhat ironically, efforts to slow the slide of the housing market in previous years are now hampering a smooth recovery by holding back inventory of homes that almost certainly must sell in the future but are not yet listed for sale,” said Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, in a prepared statement. “This includes homes in foreclosure that have been vacated by the homeowner, which account for one in every five US properties actively in the foreclosure process, as well as more than half a million bank-owned homes.”
As GlobeSt.com reported last week, REO activity in the residential market increased in May from the previous month in 33 states including western states Oregon and Colorado, reports RealtyTrac. As GlobeSt.com reported earlier in the month, several Western markets have seen foreclosure starts increase dramatically despite nationwide defaults being down 28% over May 2012, according to the firm, and the rise in bank repossessions helped boost that figure.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
