Las Vegas ‘zombie’ foreclosures remain grave concern despite dip

The entryway to a foreclosed home is shown in a neighborhood near Tenaya Way and Russell Road Thursday, June 25, 2015.

Las Vegas’ share of “zombie” foreclosures has dropped from a year ago but still is larger than in most metro areas, a new report shows.

Some 6.8 percent of Las Vegas-area homes in the foreclosure process — but not yet bank-owned — are vacant, according to RealtyTrac.

That’s down from 9.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015, though it’s above the current U.S. rate of 4.7 percent.

Las Vegas’ rate was 31st among the 146 metro areas listed in the report. Buffalo, N.Y., topped the list at 18.7 percent.

Also in RealtyTrac’s report:

• 2.1 percent of all Las Vegas-area homes, or 13,850 properties, are vacant, compared to 1.6 percent of U.S. homes

• 9.4 percent of bank-owned homes in the Las Vegas area are empty, compared to 15.9 percent nationally

• 4.2 percent of investor-owned homes in the Las Vegas area are vacant, compared to 4.4 percent nationwide

RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif., said it produced the report by comparing its database of nearly 85 million U.S. homes with monthly updates from the U.S. Postal Service that indicate whether a property had been flagged as empty by a postal carrier.

Only metro areas with at least 100,000 homes were included in the rankings, RealtyTrac said.

Real Estate

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