Zombie property crisis: The US cities hit hardest revealed

While the percentage of “zombie” properties across the country has declined slightly, the rates in a handful of Midwest cities come in much higher than the national average, according to a new report. Zombie property is a term used to describe a home that was abandoned by its owners before foreclosure proceedings were finalised. In some cases, the foreclosures are never completed and homes not repossessed by the lender, meaning the house remains in the name of an absentee owner. Among homes in the foreclosure process, 3.3 per cent were vacant and abandoned by their owners in the third quarter, according to recent report from Attom, a provider of property data and AI-powered analytics. The plague of zombie properties is the highest in a few Midwest metropolitan areas. Attom analysed 140 cities with at least 100,000 residential properties and at least 50 properties in the foreclosure process. The cities with the highest zombie rates were Youngstown, OH, in which 12.1 per cent of homes in foreclosure were vacant; Cedar Rapids, IA, with 11.6 per cent; Baltimore, MD, with 11.5 per cent; Fort Wayne, IN, with 11.1 per cent; and Akron, OH, with 10.5 per cent. “A zombie property is created ...