Industry Update
August 23, 2024

Source: ATTOM

According to ATTOM’s newly released Q3 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, 1.4 million (1,357,423) residential properties in the United States are currently vacant. This accounts for 1.3 percent, or approximately one in every 76 homes nationwide, which remains consistent with the figures reported in the second quarter of this year.

ATTOM’s latest vacant properties analysis also reveals that in the third quarter of this year, 222,934 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure, marking a 6 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2024 and a 29.3 percent drop compared to the third quarter of 2023. Foreclosure activity has been on the decline over the past year, following a surge in cases after the nationwide moratorium on lenders pursuing delinquent homeowners—implemented during the Coronavirus pandemic—was lifted in mid-2021.

The report notes that in the third quarter of 2024, approximately 7,000 pre-foreclosure properties are vacant, categorized as zombie foreclosures (abandoned by their owners). This number is slightly higher than in the previous quarter but represents a 20.2 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

Also, according to ATTOM’s Q3 2024 vacant property and zombie foreclosure report, the latest count of zombie homes continues to reflect a long-term trend, with these properties representing only a tiny fraction of the nation’s total housing stock—currently just one in every 14,776 homes across the U.S. This ratio is nearly unchanged from the one in 14,724 reported in the previous quarter but shows a significant decline from one in 11,565 in the third quarter of last year, reaching its lowest level since early 2021. Zombie foreclosures remain so rare that most local housing markets across the country face little to no impact from the issues typically associated with these properties.

On a more granular level, the reports states that the states with the largest percentage decreases in zombie properties from the third quarter of 2023 to the third quarter of 2024, among those that had at least 50 zombie homes a year ago, are Connecticut (down 79 percent, from 87 to 18), Oklahoma (down 78 percent, from 199 to 43), Iowa (down 78 percent, from 290 to 64), North Carolina (down 74 percent, from 191 to 50), and New Mexico (down 74 percent, from 95 to 25).

In this post, we take a deep dive into the data behind ATTOM’s Q3 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, to uncover the top 10 U.S. zip codes with the highest zombie foreclosure rates in zips with 10 or more pre-foreclosure properties. Those zips include: 61605 – Peoria, IL (73.1 percent); 61603 – Peoria, IL (62.8 percent); 85017 – Phoenix, AZ (50 percent); 85016 – Phoenix, AZ (46.2 percent); 66604 – Topeka, KS (45.5 percent); 46036 – Elwood, IN (42.9 percent); 88203 – Roswell, NM (42.9 percent); 33931 – Fort Myers, FL (42.1 percent); 44485 – Warren, OH (41.7 percent); and 61520 – Canton, IL (41.2 percent).