Irvine – October 29, 2026 -- The share of vacant U.S. residential properties fell to 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 1.3 percent in the third quarter and in the same quarter a year earlier, according to ATTOM's latest Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.
ATTOM analyzed 105.1 million properties and found 269,195 in the foreclosure process. Of those, 8,040, or 3 percent, were "zombies" abandoned by owners before foreclosure concluded. The zombie rate was down from 3.3 percent in the prior quarter and in the fourth quarter of last year. ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said vacant and abandoned homes "continue to represent a relatively small share" of the nation's housing stock.
Zombie property counts rise quarter-over-quarter in 29 states
Among states with at least 50 zombie properties, Wisconsin posted the largest increase at 20.9 percent, to 52 properties. Maryland rose 19.2 percent to 180, Pennsylvania 17.2 percent to 252, Texas 15.7 percent to 192 and North Carolina 15.2 percent to 129.
Arizona recorded the steepest decline, down 34.9 percent to 56 properties. Florida fell 19.6 percent to 2,220, California 10.4 percent to 267, South Carolina 9.6 percent to 141 and Oklahoma 8.9 percent to 82.
Oklahoma and Kansas post the highest overall vacancy rates
Oklahoma led at 2.4 percent, followed by Kansas (2.3 percent), Alabama (2.1 percent), West Virginia (2.1 percent) and Missouri (2 percent). New Hampshire had the lowest rate at 0.3 percent, ahead of Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut at 0.4 percent each and Idaho at 0.5 percent.
Institutional investors hold 840,384 vacant homes
Institutional investors owned 30.6 million homes in the fourth quarter, and 2.7 percent of them were vacant. Indiana had the highest investor-owned vacancy rate at 6.5 percent, followed by Alabama (5.8 percent), Oklahoma (5.4 percent), Kansas (5.2 percent) and Louisiana (5.1 percent). New Hampshire was lowest at 0.6 percent, with Vermont and Utah at 0.9 percent each.
Baltimore and Youngstown lead metro zombie rates at 13 percent
ATTOM included 164 metropolitan statistical areas in its analysis, each with at least 100,000 residential properties and 50 in foreclosure. Baltimore and Youngstown, Ohio, each recorded a 13 percent zombie rate. Akron, Ohio, followed at 11.5 percent, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 10.7 percent and Scranton, Pennsylvania, at 9.4 percent.
Ten metro areas had no zombie properties. The largest were Bridgeport, Connecticut; El Paso, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Visalia, California.
Two Baltimore zip codes exceed 40 percent zombie rates
Of 2,585 zip codes analyzed, Baltimore's 21205 posted the highest zombie rate at 42.5 percent, followed by Baltimore's 21223 at 40 percent. Indianapolis zip codes 46201 and 46218 each recorded 32.3 percent, and Carthage, New York's 13619 recorded 32.1 percent.