Vampires and zombies are in South Carolina, and it’s not even Halloween yet.
A report issued last week by RealtyTrac, a real estate information company and online marketplace, dubbed bank-owned properties (also known as real estate owned, or REOs) that are still occupied by the previous owners now in foreclosure as “vampire” REOs.
In South Carolina, 50 percent of the 5,457 homes foreclosed on are still occupied by the former owners, shedding some light on the question of why many bank-owned homes are not listed for sale, according to the report. Nationwide the number is a little lower, at 47 percent.
The report also said that “zombie” foreclosures, or the percentage of homes in the foreclosure process that have been vacated by the previous homeowners, are also low.
In South Carolina, there are 18,795 total homes in foreclosure, according to the report, with only 20 percent vacated. This is the same average as the rest of the U.S.
“The zombie and vampire foreclosure numbers in South Carolina indicate that there is a substantial inevitable inventory of homes in foreclosure or already foreclosed that are being held back from the market. This may be helping to boost home price appreciation in the short term, but could cause the housing recovery to lose steam once they eventually hit the market in the form of for-sale inventory,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.
These properties also reflect a shadow inventory lurking in the background of the real estate market, experts say. In many cases they look like normal homes, with owners living there and taking care of the properties, but banks will likely want to sell them soon now that home prices are rising.
The report used data from the U.S. Postal Service that showed whether the property had been flagged as vacant by the mail carrier or whether the homeowner had requested mail not to be sent to the property address. The report also looked back at the names of the owners who were on the pre-foreclosure documents.
