Zombie Foreclosures, Vacancy Rates Trend Downward

While a lack of affordability continues to challenge homeowners, the number of vacancies and zombie foreclosures have both declined. According to property data provider ATTOM’s Q-4 2025 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, 1.32% of residential properties in the U.S., or about 1.4 million homes, are now vacant. This figure is down slightly from the prior quarterly report, when the vacancy rate was 1.33%.

Additionally, the report shows that 228,943 residential properties nationwide were in the process of foreclosure during Q-4 2025. Of those, 3.25%, or about 7,448 homes, were considered zombie properties, meaning they'd been abandoned by their owner prior to foreclosure proceedings. This figure is also lower than the 3.38% zombie foreclosure rate recorded in the previous quarter.

“These continuously low vacancy rates that the nation has held steady at around 1.4 percent for nearly four years, show that record high prices haven’t dampened the demand for homes,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “It’s a good sign for local housing markets that even as we’ve seen foreclosure filings increase, the rate of homes in foreclosure that are abandoned is going down.”