As if rising mortgage rates arent scary enough, some analysts are pointing to a lurking threat to housing: vampire properties.
These properties are bank-owned foreclosed homes in which previous owners continue to live, as defined by RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.
Former owners live in 47% of U.S. bank-owned properties, according to RealtyTrac. The properties are sucking the life out of the housing market, said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
There are particularly high rates of vampire properties in Virginia, where they make up 72% of bank-owned homes and Nebraska, where they make up 68%. Many states with high shares of vampire homes have relatively short foreclosure processes and a low rate of homes with negative equity.
The concern with these homes is that they are inevitable inventory that had been delayed from hitting the market, Blomquist said. We dont anticipate these properties will derail the housing recovery when they hit, but they will certainly take some of the steam out of the recovery.
"Homeowners may have less time to prepare to vacate the home because of the shorter foreclosure process, but also may be more motivated to fight the foreclosure because they are more likely to have positive equity in the home," he said.
Vampire properties should not be confused with "zombie" foreclosures. According to RealtyTrac, zombie foreclosures are properties that have been vacated by the homeowner but are languishing in the foreclosure process. About one-in-five homes in foreclosure across the country have been vacated by the homeowner.
