A rising number of Las Vegas homeowners headed to foreclosure are bolting, even though property-ditching is on the decline nationally, a new report shows.
About 34 percent of valley homes in the foreclosure process but not yet bank-owned have been vacated by their owners. That amounts to 1,942 “zombie” foreclosures, up 16 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.
Nationally, 24 percent of homes headed to foreclosure have been vacated by their owners. That’s roughly 127,000 zombie homes, down 10 percent from a year ago.
Such homes often fall into disrepair and are prone to squatters, blighting neighborhoods and pushing down property values.
Nevada, with the bulk of its population in Clark County, has the fourth-highest zombie foreclosure rate in the nation — one in every 495 homes — among states with more than 100 properties in foreclosure.
It’s behind New Jersey (one in every 210 homes), Florida (one in every 324) and New York (one in every 476).
Nationally, one in every 1,040 homes is a zombie foreclosure, RealtyTrac reported.