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Foreclosed “zombie” properties have fallen slightly across the nation but vacancies are high in four Midwestern and one Southern state.<\/p>\n
The number of zombie properties for the fourth quarter of 2025 rose quarter over quarter in 21 states and the District of Columbia, but by small margins and as few as a single additional zombie property in some states, the latest report from real estate<\/a> analytics firm ATTOM found.<\/p>\n The report showed that 228,943 residential properties nationwide were in the process of foreclosure during the fourth quarter. Of those, 3.25%, or about 7,448 homes, were “zombie” properties, defined as having been abandoned by their owner before the conclusion of foreclosure proceedings.<\/p>\n That was down from a 3.38% zombie rate the previous quarter.<\/p>\n “These continuously low vacancy rates that the nation has held steady at around 1.4% for nearly four years, show that record high prices haven\u2019t dampened the demand for homes,” said Rob Barber<\/strong>, CEO of ATTOM.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a good sign for local housing markets that even as we\u2019ve seen foreclosure filings increase, the rate of homes in foreclosure that are abandoned is going down.”<\/p>\n Homes owned by institutional investors were slightly more likely than typical homes to be vacant in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n Of the 880,347 investor-owned properties nationwide, 3.5% were unoccupied compared with the overall national rate of 3.3%.<\/p>\n Typically, investors, especially larger investors with many properties, don’t live on-site, which would explain why it is vacant or abandoned before and during the foreclosure process.<\/p>\n ATTOM did not distinguish between large and small investors. Smaller investors typically have 12 properties or less. The firm also defined “investor-owned” as not owner occupied.<\/p>\n ATTOM looked at 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.<\/p>\n