North Iredell News

A recent report from Attom Data Solutions reports that there are 662 homes sitting vacant in Iredell County.

These homes are what real estate agents like to call "zombie homes." They call these homes "zombie homes" because they are vacant and also in foreclosure. 

More than 1.52 million homes in the nation are sitting empty, the organization reports. The number of empty houses makes up about 1.5% of the total homes in the U.S., the report reveals. 

To get the accurate percentages, Attom Data Solutions applied county tax assessor data on over 98 million single-family homes and condos from January 2020. Attom then broke the data down by foreclosure and owner-occupancy statuses for each foreclosed home.

The data acquired by Attom shows that 0.84% of the total homes in Iredell County are vacant. Two of the 662 homes are considered "zombie" foreclosures, which is 2.2% of the 91 total foreclosures in the county.

Attom data shows that there are 282,800 homes nationwide that are in the process of foreclosure. Yet, only 8,700 of the total foreclosures are being classified as "zombie" foreclosures.

Todd Teta, the chief product officer with Attom Data Solutions, says homes are often abandoned by owners when the house is facing foreclosure.

However, Tata says the number of homes abandoned this way is only a "blip on the radar." He says the numbers are a product of the Great Recession that struck the nation over a decade ago.

“Homes abandoned by owners facing a possible foreclosure remain little more than a blip on the radar across the country, as one of the main scourges of the Great Recession continues to show little or no signs of re-emerging,” Todd Teta said in a press release. “Even with the slight increase in these so-called ‘zombie foreclosures,’ so far this year, there are still pockets of distress with elevated numbers of abandoned homes. But in yet another reflection of how the national housing market is still booming, you can drive through many towns and not pass a single such property.”