One in 80 U.S. Homes Reported Vacant in Q2

ATTOM’s Q2 2023 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report has found that 1.3 million (1,285,633) residential properties in the U.S. remain vacant—a total that represents 1.3%, or one in 79 homes, across the nation.

In order to determine the number of zombie foreclosures nationwide, ATTOM analyzes publicly recorded real estate data—including foreclosure, equity, and owner-occupancy status—matched against monthly updated vacancy data.

The Q2 2023 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report reveals that 311,508 residential properties in the U.S. were in the process of foreclosure in Q2 of 2023, up 4.3% from Q1 of 2023, and up 20.2 percent from Q2 of 2022.

Among those pre-foreclosure properties, 8,752 sit vacant as zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in Q2 of 2023. That figure is up 7.5% from the prior quarter, and up 15.6% from a year ago. The count of zombie properties has grown in each of the last five quarters, dating back to early in 2022.

However, the number of zombie foreclosures remains historically low, with little impact on the nation's total stock of 101.3 million residential properties.

"Zombie foreclosures keep inching up as lenders pursue more delinquent homeowners in courts around the country. All indications are that the number of zombie properties will keep going up slowly, given that foreclosures are up," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. "But abandoned properties are still nothing more than a dot on the radar screen among the majority of neighborhoods. We are still a long way from the fallout after the Great Recession of the late 2000s, when this was a very real issue in many areas around the U.S."

Among the 8,752 residential properties facing possible foreclosure have been vacated by their owners nationwide in Q2 of 2023, that total is up from 8,141 in Q1 of 2023, and from 7,569 in Q2 of 2022. The number of zombie properties has grown quarterly in 29 states, and annually in 36.

While most neighborhoods around the U.S. have little or no zombie foreclosures, the biggest increases from Q1 of 2023 to Q2 of 2023 in states with at least 50 zombie properties were found in:

• Texas (zombie properties up 47%, from 114 to 168)
• Ohio (zombie properties up 26%, from 846 to 1,070)
• Oklahoma (zombie properties up 22%, from 142 to 173)
• Georgia (zombie properties up 22%, from 78 to 95)
• Iowa (zombie properties up 21%, from 227 to 274)

The only quarterly decreases among states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures were found in:

• Michigan (zombie properties down 20%, from 74 to 59)
• South Carolina (zombie properties down 2%, from 154 to 151)
• Pennsylvania (zombie properties down 1%, from 404 to 401)
• New York (zombie properties down less than 1%, from 2,006 to 2,000).

The Empire State of New York continues to have the highest ratio of zombie homes to all residential properties at one in every 2,140 homes; followed by Ohio at one in 3,615 homes; Iowa at one in 4,480 homes; Illinois at one in 4,687 homes; and Florida at one in 5,926 homes.

ATTOM reports that the vacancy rate for residential properties in the U.S. has remained the same in Q2 of 2023 after dropping in the prior three quarters—currently at 1.27% (one in 79 properties), the same as in Q1 of 2023, but still down from 1.31% recorded in Q2 of last year (one in 76).

States reporting the largest annual drops in the overall vacancy rate are:

• Tennessee (down from 1.55% of all homes in Q2 of 2022 to 1.02% in Q2 of 2023)
• Michigan (down from 2.14% to 1.88%)
• Georgia (down from 1.61% to 1.39%)
• Minnesota (down from 0.95% to 0.73%)
• New Jersey (down from 0.53% to 0.36%)

Among the 166 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. with at least 100,000 residential properties and at least 100 properties facing possible foreclosure in Q2 of 2023, the highest zombie foreclosure rates were found in:

• Wichita, Kansas, where 13.1% of properties in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where 11.3% of properties in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Peoria, Illinois, where 9.7% of properties in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Toledo, Ohio, where 8.8% of properties in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Youngstown, Ohio, where 7.4% of properties in the foreclosure process were vacant

The highest zombie-foreclosure rates in major metro areas with at least 500,000 residential properties and at least 100 homes facing foreclosure in Q2 of 2023 were found in:

• Cleveland, Ohio, where 7.1% of homes in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Indianapolis, Indiana, where 6.5% of homes in the foreclosure process were vacant
• St. Louis, Missouri, where 5.8% of homes in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Baltimore, Maryland, where 5.7% of homes in the foreclosure process were vacant
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 5.4% of homes in the foreclosure process were vacant

Among the 23.6 million investor-owned homes throughout the U.S. in Q2 of 2023, approximately 843,000 are vacant, or 3.6 percent. The highest levels of vacant investor-owned homes were found in:

• Indiana, where 6.9% were vacant
• Alabama, where 6.1% were vacant
• Oklahoma, where 6% were vacant
• Ohio, where 5.9% were vacant
• Illinois, where 5.8% were vacant

Among the roughly 14,900 foreclosed, bank-owned homes in the U.S. during Q2 of 2023, 14.5% were vacant. In states with at least 50 bank-owned homes, the largest vacancy rates were found in:

• Iowa, where 27.8% were vacant
• Ohio, where 24.8% were vacant
• New Mexico, where 22.9% were vacant
• Indiana, where 22.8% were vacant
• New York, where 20.8 were vacant

The highest zombie-foreclosure rates in U.S. counties with at least 500 properties in the foreclosure process during Q2 of 2023 were found in:

• Peoria County, Illinois, where 11.7% were zombie foreclosures
• Broome County (Binghamton), New York, where 11.6% were zombie foreclosures
• Baltimore County, Maryland, where 11.2% were zombie foreclosures
• Lake County, Illinois (outside Chicago), where 9.9% were zombie foreclosures
• Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana, where 8.5% were zombie foreclosures

Among zip codes with at least 1,000 residential properties, 44 of the 50 with the largest portions of overall homes in zombie status were found in New York, Ohio, and Illinois, as well as seven in Cleveland, Ohio. The biggest ratios were found in the following zip codes:

• 10993 in Rockland County (West Haverstraw), New York (one in 191 homes)
• 44112 in Cleveland, Ohio (one in 213)
• 13754 in Broome County (Deposit), New York (one in 239)
• 44108 in Cleveland, Ohio (one in 255)
• 73554 in Greer County (Mangum), Oklahoma (one in 259)