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ZOMBIE FORECLOSURES REMAIN SPARCE AROUND U.S. IN FOURTH QUARTER AMID ONGOING STRONG HOUSING MARKET

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Zombie-Property Trends Follow Decrease in Overall Foreclosure Cases

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its fourth-quarter 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report showing that 1.4 million (1,355,909) residential properties in the United States are vacant. That figure represents 1.3 percent, or one in 77 homes, across the nation – virtually the same as in third quarter and up just slightly from a year ago.

The report analyzes publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM — including foreclosure status, equity and owner-occupancy status — matched against monthly updated vacancy data. (See full methodology below).

The report also reveals that 215,601 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure in the fourth quarter of this year, down 3.3 percent from the third quarter of 2024 and down 32.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2023.

Among those pre-foreclosure properties, about 7,100 sit vacant as zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in the fourth quarter of 2024. That figure is slightly above the number in the prior quarter, but down 20.2 percent from a year ago.

The latest count of zombie homes extends a long-term pattern of those properties representing only a tiny portion of the nation’s total housing stock, currently at just one of every 14,591 homes around the U.S. The ratio is virtually unchanged from one in 14,776 in the prior quarter, but well down from one in 11,412 in the fourth quarter of last year, marking one of the lowest levels in the past five years. Zombie foreclosures, which can attract vandals and spread neighborhood blight, continue to have little or no impact on most local housing markets. That phenomenon remains one of many enduring effects of a housing market boom around the nation now in its 13th year.

“The near-total disappearance of zombie foreclosures has been and still is one of the more subtle, but important benefits of the country’s soaring housing market. Those properties have gone from a plague in many areas of the U.S. following the Great Recession of the late 2000s, when millions of homes fell into foreclosure, to a distant memory in most communities today,” said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “That’s unlikely to change much in the near future given that record home prices are keeping home-equity levels at historic highs and foreclosures cases dropping. On top of that, the supply of homes is so tight that even when a property is abandoned, buyers are more likely to swoop in and pick it up.”

Zombie foreclosures up by small amounts quarterly around U.S. while down annually

A total of 7,109 residential properties facing possible foreclosure have been vacated by their owners nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 1.5 percent from 7,007 in the third quarter of 2024 but down from 8,903 in the fourth quarter of 2023. The number of zombie properties has gone up quarterly in 30 states – usually increasing by less than 20. The number has declined or stayed the same in 20 states.

The biggest percent decreases from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024 in states that had at least 50 zombie homes a year ago are in Connecticut (zombie properties down 87 percent, from 100 to 13), Iowa (down 76 percent, from 281 to 68), North Carolina (down 73 percent, from 195 to 53), New Mexico (down 72 percent, from 81 to 23) and Oklahoma (down 71 percent, from 197 to 58).

The only annual increases among states that had at least 50 zombie foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2024 have come in Kansas (zombie properties up 126 percent, from 35 to 79), Arizona (up 114 percent, from 28 to 60), Florida (up 65 percent, from 1,199 to 1,974), Texas (up 52 percent, from 126 to 191) and New Jersey (up 14 percent, from 188 to 215).

2024 Zombie Foreclosure Infographic

Overall vacancy rates change by tiny amounts

The vacancy rate for all residential properties in the U.S. has remained virtually the same for 11 quarters in a row, hovering around 1.3 percent. The latest figure of 1.31 percent (one in 77 properties) is the same as in the third quarter of 2024 and up slightly from 1.27 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

States with the highest vacancy rates for all residential properties are Oklahoma (2.37 percent, or one in 42 homes, during the fourth quarter of this year), Kansas (2.28 percent, or one in 44), Missouri (2.15 percent, or one in 47), Alabama (2.11 percent, or one in 47) and West Virginia (2.08 percent, or one in 48).

Those with the lowest overall vacancy rates are New Hampshire (0.34 percent, or one in 296 homes), Vermont (0.40 percent, or one in 248), New Jersey (0.46 percent, or one in 216), Idaho (0.50 percent, or one in 200) and Connecticut (0.57 percent, or one in 175).

Other high-level findings from the fourth quarter of 2024:

Among 170 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. with at least 100,000 residential properties in the fourth quarter of 2024, those with at least 100 properties facing possible foreclosure and the highest zombie foreclosure rates are Peoria, IL (22.4 percent of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Toledo, OH (11.6 percent); Wichita, KS (9.9 percent); Evansville, IN (9.2 percent) and Canton, OH (8.8 percent).

The highest zombie-foreclosure rates in major metro areas with at least 500,000 residential properties and at least 100 homes facing foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2024 are in Cleveland, OH (8.5 percent of homes in the foreclosure process are vacant); Indianapolis, IN (8.4 percent); St. Louis, MO (8.4 percent); Kansas City, MO (6.5 percent) and Baltimore, MD (6.4 percent).

Among the 25 million investor-owned homes throughout the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2024, about 871,200 are vacant, or 3.5 percent. The highest levels of vacant investor-owned homes are in Indiana (6.7 percent vacant), Illinois (5.9 percent), Alabama (5.9 percent), Oklahoma (5.8 percent) and Kansas (5.7 percent).

Among the roughly 12,000 foreclosed, bank-owned homes in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2024, 13.9 percent are vacant. In states with at least 50 vacant bank-owned homes, the largest vacancy rates are in Missouri (24.5 percent), Ohio (24.1 percent), Indiana (23.7 percent) Illinois (19.6 percent), and Michigan (17.7 percent).

The highest zombie-foreclosure rates in U.S. counties with at least 500 properties in the foreclosure process during the fourth quarter of 2024 are in Broome County (Binghamton), NY (15 percent of homes in the foreclosure process are vacant); Marion County (Indianapolis), IN (9.9 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (9.7 percent); Niagara County (Niagara Falls), NY (9.3 percent) and Pinellas County (St. Petersburg), FL (7.9 percent).

Among zip codes with enough data to analyze, 66 of the top 100 where zombie properties represent the largest portions of all homes are in New York. The largest portions are in zip codes 61605 in Peoria (Peoria County), IL (one in 168 homes); 61603 in Peoria (Peoria County), IL (one in 232); 14892 in Waverly (Tioga County), NY (one in 260); 13795 in Kirkwood (Broome County), NY (one in 284 homes) and 13350 in Herkimer (Herkimer County), NY (one in 287).

Report Methodology

ATTOM analyzed county tax assessor data for 103.7 million residential properties for vacancy, broken down by foreclosure status and owner-occupancy status in the fourth quarter of 2024. Only metropolitan statistical areas with at least 100,000 residential properties, counties with at least 50,000 residential properties and zip codes with at least 1,000 residential properties were included in the analysis.

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data and analytics that power a myriad of solutions that improve transparency, innovation, digitization and efficiency in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications – AI-Ready Solutions. 

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

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SOURCE ATTOM

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Tessa AI Launches Tessa Newslink, a Free Tool That Checks Health News Against the Research Behind It

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Readers paste a link to a health story, and Newslink finds the studies behind it and shows, claim by claim, what the science actually supports

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tessa AI, Inc. (formerly Siensmetrica, Inc.) today launched Tessa Newslink, a free web tool that checks the health and medical claims in a news story against the published research behind them. Readers paste the link to an article into Newslink at news.tessapp.ai and, typically within one to four minutes, receive a plain-language report showing which of the story’s claims the research supports, which it overstates, and which it doesn’t address at all.

Health claims reach the public through news stories, podcasts, social media, influencers and product marketing, and many of them point to real studies. But as a finding travels from a journal to a headline to a social post, the details that determine what it means are often lost along the way: how many people were studied, whether the study involved people or mice, and whether it showed cause and effect or only a correlation. Few readers have the time or training to track down the original paper and check.

“Most people never get past the headline, but that isn’t a character flaw. The research is hard to find and even harder to read,” said Marc Toth, CEO of Tessa AI. “Newslink does that legwork. It finds the study, reads it, and shows whether the story got it right, with links so anyone can check our work. We’re not asking people to trust an AI. We’re showing them the evidence.”

How Tessa Newslink works

Identifies the claims. Newslink reads the article and pulls out its key health and medical claims, noting how strongly each one is made.Finds the research. It searches PubMed, Europe PMC and Crossref for the studies the story relies on. When an article doesn’t name its source, Newslink looks for published research that closely matches the subject.Compares the two. It weighs what each study actually found against what the story says.Delivers a verdict. The story as a whole is rated Supported, Mostly Supported, Mostly Unsupported or Entirely Unsupported, with a green, yellow or red indicator that shows at a glance how well it holds up. Each claim is rated individually as Supported, Overstated, Unsupported, or Can’t Be Checked when the research doesn’t address it.

Every report links back to the original article, to each claim, to the research itself, and to Tessa’s Summary Analysis of each study, including its TScore, Tessa’s 0-to-100 rating of a study’s overall trustworthiness. Reports can be quickly shared to X, LinkedIn or Facebook, or by link through email and text.

Newslink is designed for anyone who reads health news, including the people who report it. Journalists, editors, clinicians and patient advocates can use it to see what a study did and didn’t show before they cover it, cite it or pass it along.

“Health misinformation isn’t kept behind a paywall, so the tools for checking it shouldn’t be either,” Toth said. “Making Newslink free was the whole point.”

Newslink runs on the same T.E.S. (Transparency, Explainability, and Significance) analysis engine as Tessa and Tessa Pro, which researchers, clinicians, peer reviewers and biopharma professionals have used to evaluate biomedical research since the platform’s public launch in May 2026. Newslink evaluates whether published research supports the claims in a story; it does not provide medical advice.

Availability
Tessa Newslink is available now at no cost at https://news.tessapp.ai. There’s no account, sign-in or daily limit: readers simply paste in the link to the story they want to check.

Tessa AI is also exploring partnerships with health, news and social media platforms interested in bringing Newslink’s claim checking to their audiences. Publishers and platforms can reach the company at partners@tessaai.co.

Tessa AI’s product team will also preview Newslink this week with attendees of DOC 2026: Longevity Science & Medical AI in Sonoma, Calif.

About Tessa AI, Inc.
Tessa AI, Inc. (formerly Siensmetrica, Inc.) develops Tessa, an AI-powered platform that evaluates the trustworthiness of biomedical and healthcare research. Built on the T.E.S. (Transparency, Explainability, and Significance) framework, Tessa uses coordinated, specialized AI agents to assess a paper’s methodology, citations, reporting completeness, and risk of bias, and shows the evidence behind every score. The company’s products, including Tessa, Tessa Pro, and the free Tessa Newslink, support scientific research across its full lifecycle, from evaluating published studies to checking how they’re reported to the public. Learn more at www.tessaai.co.

Media contact:
Sage Osterfeld, CMO
425295@email4pr.com 
+1 (760) 593-7243

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SOURCE Tessa AI, Inc.

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SKG Wins Three Global Travel Retail Awards, Showcasing Technology for Modern Travel and Expanding Global Presence

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PARIS, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese health technology brand SKG has received three honors at the Global Travel Retail Awards 2026, with its G7 Pro Fold Neck Massager winning both “Best Technology Product” and “Best Travel Accessory,” while the W9 Ultra Waist Massager earned “Best Travel Exclusive Product.” Notably, “Best Technology Product” and “Best Travel Exclusive Product” were introduced for the first time in 2026, making SKG the inaugural winner in both categories. https://www.skg.com/?utm_source=media_name&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=product_launch_2026

The Global Travel Retail Awards is the only consumer-voted award in the global duty-free and travel retail industry. 80% of the final score comes from 5,000 international travelers selected from research agency m1nd-set’s traveler database, while a panel of travel content creators determines the remaining 20% following a three-day hands-on evaluation in London. This year’s winners also included internationally recognized brands such as Marc Jacobs and Clarins.

Under the awards program’s long-standing practice, both winning SKG products will enter global travel retail channels carrying the “Voted by Shoppers” designation, a mark that organizers say can significantly enhance consumer purchase intent.

Technology for Travel Wellness

The recognition comes as global air travel continues to recover and long-haul journeys, multi-stop itineraries, and intensive business travel become increasingly common. As travelers pay greater attention to managing neck, shoulder, and lower-back discomfort on the move, wearable wellness devices are becoming a regular part of carry-on essentials.

Designed to address these real-world travel needs, the G7 Pro Fold combines a 180-degree foldable structure with a lightweight 278-gram design, making it easy to pack and carry. The device integrates pulse stimulation, physical vibration, heat therapy, and dual-spectrum photothermal technology to provide a comprehensive relaxation experience during travel.

The award-winning W9 Ultra features multiple independently driven massage heads capable of simulating kneading, pinching, pressing, and other massage techniques across different body zones. Combining medium-frequency pulse technology with surround photothermal therapy, it features a flexible wearable design that can be comfortably used over clothing.

Behind these products is a long-term commitment to technology development and standards leadership. SKG has invested continuously in research and development for 19 years and holds more than 1,500 registered patents worldwide, including over 300 granted invention patents. The company operates a technology research institute, proprietary manufacturing facilities, and nine core laboratories. In China, it also led the development of the industry standard Household and Similar-Use Low-Frequency Massagers (QB/T 8100-2024), which took effect in July 2025.

Expanding Global Presence

The awards also reflect SKG’s broader globalization strategy. Rather than relying solely on an export-driven approach, the company has increasingly focused on building a localized presence in overseas markets. To address differences in wearing habits, ergonomic preferences, language environments, and service expectations, SKG extends localization efforts beyond distribution to product functionality, industrial design, user interfaces, regulatory compliance, and after-sales support. The company has established corporate or operational entities in China, Singapore, the United States, and the Netherlands, supported by an overseas team of nearly 100 employees.

Today, SKG products are available in more than 50 countries and regions across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The brand sells through online platforms including Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, and its direct-to-consumer website, while also partnering with major offline retailers such as Costco, MediaMarkt, Saturn, Bic Camera, Takashimaya, and Selfridges. According to a Frost & Sullivan study completed in April 2025, SKG ranked No. 1 globally in smart massager sales revenue for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. Between 2023 and 2025, SKG achieved nearly twofold growth in revenue from markets outside mainland China.

As travel retail continues to evolve, SKG’s latest recognition highlights how technology-driven wellness products are responding to the realities of modern travel while demonstrating the company’s ongoing transition from exporting products to building lasting roots in global markets.

About SKG Health

Founded in 2007, SKG Health takes its name from the values “Smart, Kind and Global” and is a global leader in health technology focused on wearable devices across massage, sports recovery and everyday wellness. Its products are available in more than 50 countries and regions. Frost & Sullivan ranked SKG first in global smart massager sales from 2022 through 2024.

For more information, please visit https://www.skg.com/?utm_source=media_name&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=product_launch_2026.

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SOURCE SKG

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Real-time Hiring Data Offers Universities a New Way to Connect Students with Career Opportunities

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Rollie Jobs reduces administrative burden for career services teams while expanding access to timely, relevant job postings

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Helping students connect their education to meaningful career opportunities is a top priority for colleges and universities. As institutions continue to invest in student career success, new technologies are helping streamline connections between students and employers while creating efficiencies that support campus career services teams.

Rollie Jobs is expanding its work within higher education, bringing its AI-powered workforce intelligence platform to universities seeking to expand career opportunities for students, help career services teams work more efficiently and strengthen relationships with employer partners.

Rather than relying on employers to manually submit job postings, Rollie automatically aggregates active postings from employers and industries of interest to create continuously updated, branded job boards. The result is a simpler, more effective experience for everyone involved: career services teams spend less time managing listings and more time supporting students; students discover a broader, more current range of jobs; and employers benefit from greater exposure to qualified candidates.

“Students and families increasingly expect a college degree to open doors to meaningful careers,” said Alex Sejdinaj, co-founder of Rollie Jobs. “Career services teams play a critical role in helping students navigate their futures, and technology should make that work easier, not more complicated. Rollie automatically surfaces job opportunities from employers without requiring manual uploads or another account for students to access listings. That means institutions can complement existing career services efforts, strengthen connections with employers and help more students discover meaningful opportunities.”

Connecting Education and Employment
Rollie is currently working with higher education partners, including the University of Notre Dame, to explore new ways of connecting students with employment opportunities while giving career services teams and university leaders greater visibility into employer hiring activity.

Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business recently implemented Rollie’s technology in its graduate business career services stack, supporting staff efficiency while surfacing targeted opportunities from employers in specific fields.

“As employer recruiting continues to evolve, we have to be equally thoughtful and innovative in how we connect students with opportunities,” said Christina Frank-Lieberg, director of external engagement for the Mendoza College of Business. “Preparing students for lives of purpose includes helping them discover meaningful career opportunities. Rollie helps us deepen relationships with employers while giving students access to timely, relevant opportunities that support informed career decisions.”

Beyond the Job Board
Higher education institutions have access to more workforce information than ever before, from graduate outcomes and employer feedback to industry advisory boards and labor market reports. Rollie complements those resources by providing a continuously updated view of employer demand, helping institutions turn workforce data into actionable intelligence.

“AI has the potential to make workforce intelligence dramatically more accessible,” said Chris Frederick, co-founder of Rollie Jobs. “Instead of spending hours gathering information from multiple sources, university leaders can ask questions, explore hiring trends and gain meaningful insights in minutes. Our goal is to help institutions spend less time searching for information and more time building stronger connections between students, employers and opportunity.”

As higher education continues to focus on student career outcomes, Rollie helps institutions connect students with more career opportunities by automatically discovering job postings, eliminating manual job board management and giving students access to a continuously updated view of what employers are hiring for right now.

To learn more or schedule a demonstration, visit www.rolliejobs.com.

About Rollie Jobs
Rollie Jobs is an AI-powered workforce intelligence platform that helps organizations automatically collect live job postings, explore workforce data using AI and publish branded job boards. Serving chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, workforce partners and higher education institutions, Rollie transforms employer hiring activity into actionable workforce intelligence that helps organizations connect talent with opportunity. Visit www.rolliejobs.com.

Media Contact:

Ann Hastings
For Rollie Jobs
574-210-8425
425107@email4pr.com 

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SOURCE Rollie Jobs

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