Vacancy and ‘Zombie Foreclosure’ Rates Decline as Housing Supply Remains Tight

The rate of vacant and foreclosed “zombie” properties has fallen slightly throughout the country as the U.S. still faces housing scarcity.A new report from real estate analytics provider ATTOM shows that the share of vacant properties in the United States, which accounts for all unoccupied properties, regardless of ownership type or foreclosure status, was 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2026. This figure is down from 1.3% in both the third quarter this year and fourth quarter last year.ATTOM found 269,195 properties were in the foreclosure process in the fourth quarter, of which 8,040, or 3%, were considered “zombies,” or properties that were abandoned by the owner prior to the completion of the foreclosure process.That percentage is down slightly from the same quarter in 2025, when 3.3% of properties in the foreclosure process were zombies.Despite the national decrease in the zombie share of foreclosures, 29 states saw the number of zombie properties increase from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2026. Still, only a very small portion of the country’s residential properties are vacant or abandoned.“The fourth-quarter data showed modest declines in both vacancy and zombie ...