Properties that are owner-vacated represent 20% of all U.S. homes in the foreclosure process, RealtyTrac said in a new report.
As of June, 167,680 homeowners decided to leave their home that lenders have foreclosed upon. These owner-vacated foreclosures are in addition to 544,274 bank-owned homes that have been foreclosed on but not sold to a third party.
“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, vice president at RealtyTrac.
The Irvine, Calif.-based data provider said vacancy rates were higher on lower-end foreclosures: 29% on homes valued below $50,000 and 25% vacancies for homes priced between $50,000 and $100,000. Meanwhile, 12% of homes valued $1 million or more were also vacant.
Among the five servicers involved in the national mortgage settlement, Bank of America and GMAC had the highest percentage of owner-vacated foreclosures, both with 23%, while JPMorgan Chase had 21% and Wells Fargo and Citi each had 20% too.
“Efforts to prevent unnecessary foreclosures and mitigate their impact on home values have resulted in a foreclosure process that takes an average 477 days nationwide, and more than years in some states—which is holding many of these must-sell properties off the market,” Blomquist added. “Even if all these homes flooded the market simultaneously they would likely not cause the once-feared double dip in prices given supply constraints from nondistressed sellers and stronger demand.”
