ATTOM data shows both measures ticked lower quarter-over-quarter, though abandoned zombie properties rose across 29 states
With Halloween just a day away, America’s zombie problem turns out to be less frightening than expected.
The nation’s so-called zombie foreclosure rate — homes abandoned by owners mid-foreclosure, left to sit empty as proceedings drag on — fell to 3% in the fourth quarter. That's down from 3.3% the prior quarter and from the same period a year earlier, according to property analytics firm ATTOM’s latest Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report.
The national home vacancy rate also eased, dropping to 1.2% from 1.3% in the third quarter.
Of 105.1 million residential properties analyzed, 269,195 were in the active foreclosure process during the quarter.
Rob Barber, chief executive of Irvine, California-based ATTOM, offered a measured read on the figures.
“The fourth-quarter data showed modest declines in both vacancy and zombie foreclosure rates nationwide,” he said.
“While trends vary from state to state, vacant and abandoned homes continue to represent a relatively small share of the nation’s housing stock.”
That tone is consistent with how mortgage brokers have been reading the broader foreclosure picture throughout 2026.
Amir Nurani, broker-owner at Left Coast Leaders in California, previously told Mortgage Professional America that the equity position most homeowners hold is what keeps zombie activity in check.
“Those homes aren’t going to go into foreclosure,” Nurani said. “Those individuals are going to sell those homes before they let the house go. So when you see foreclosures, it’s because selling really isn’t an option and extracting equity to relieve pain isn’t an option. Foreclosure ends up being the last resort.”
That dynamic helps explain why zombie rates remain contained even as foreclosure volumes have crept higher on an annual basis.
As Nurani put it: “It doesn’t surprise me that we’re seeing foreclosures tick up because not everybody is in a position where they have the equity to extract to create some relief. Not everybody is in a position where that’s the solution that gets them out of the pain.”
Zombie properties rise in nearly half of states
Despite the national decline, zombie properties increased quarter-over-quarter in 29 states. The steepest gains came in Wisconsin (up 20.9% to 52 zombie properties), Maryland (up 19.2% to 180), Pennsylvania (up 17.2% to 252), Texas (up 15.7% to 192), and North Carolina (up 15.2% to 129).
The most significant contractions occurred in Arizona (down 34.9%), Florida (down 19.6%), and California (down 10.4%).
At the metro level, Baltimore, MD, and Youngstown, OH each posted zombie rates of 13%, the highest among 164 metropolitan statistical areas with sufficient data.
Akron, OH (11.5%), Cedar Rapids, IA (10.7%), and Scranton, PA (9.4%) followed.
Ten metro areas recorded zero zombie properties, the largest of which were Bridgeport, CT, El Paso, TX, and Little Rock, AR.
The zip-code data revealed the starkest concentrations: Baltimore’s 21205 zip code posted the highest zombie rate in the country at 42.5%, followed by the adjacent 21223 zip code at 40%.
Two Indianapolis zip codes — 46201 and 46218 — each came in at 32.3%.
Northeast records lowest vacancy, Plains states trail
State-level vacancy figures showed pronounced regional divergence.
Oklahoma (2.4%), Kansas (2.3%), Alabama and West Virginia (both 2.1%), and Missouri (2%) posted the highest overall rates in the fourth quarter.
At the other end, New Hampshire (0.3%), Vermont, New Jersey, and Connecticut (all 0.4%), and Idaho (0.5%) recorded the tightest conditions.
Institutional investors held 30.6 million homes in the quarter, of which approximately 840,384, or 2.7%, sat vacant, more than double the national rate.
Indiana led investor-owned vacancy at 6.5%, followed by Alabama (5.8%), Oklahoma (5.4%), Kansas (5.2%), and Louisiana (5.1%).
The lowest investor vacancy rates appeared in New Hampshire (0.6%), Vermont and Utah (both 0.9%), Hawaii (1%), and New Jersey (1.1%).
The broader pattern, consistent with what housing market data through the second half of 2026 has shown, suggests that while foreclosure volumes are creeping upward on an annual basis, the conditions for a wave of distressed supply remain absent.
As Nurani observed, most homeowners still hold enough equity to exit before the bank takes the keys — which is exactly why America’s zombie count, for now, stays manageable.
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