With over 19 million, yes 19 million vacant homes in the US, many suburbs are looking even more like a war zone than usual. The New York Times reports that:
City officials and housing advocates here and in cities as varied as Buffalo, Kansas City, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla., say they are seeing an unsettling development: Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate.
What is the solution?
The above picture is from Mike Licht, who comments on the fuzzy data promoted by US real estate agents, soon to be known as ffffantasy agents.