Published by REALTOR.com | February 21, 2025
A zombie foreclosure occurs when a homeowner abandons their property after receiving a foreclosure notice, but before ownership of the house is transferred.
Zombie foreclosures are popping up across the U.S. as homeowners struggle to make monthly mortgage payments—with rates still hovering close to 7%.
There are at least 1.4 million vacant residential properties across the country, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics. That represents 1 in 76 homes across the nation—and the number is up slightly from a year ago.
At least 212,268 homes are in the process of foreclosure, just in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, among pre-foreclosure properties, 7,094 sit vacant as zombie foreclosures.
A zombie foreclosure occurs when a homeowner abandons their property after receiving a foreclosure notice, but before ownership of the house is transferred.
The report looked at publicly recorded real estate data that included foreclosure status, equity, and owner-occupancy status and matched it against monthly updated vacancy data.
ATTOM’s research found 1 in every 14,668 homes across the U.S. has been vacated due to foreclosure.
“Affordable locales in the Midwest have seen sustained buyer attention as many home shoppers are priced out of higher-priced markets,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.
“The rate of foreclosures is relatively low in these areas as homeowners are in a good position to sell for more than they purchased the home for.”
Still, zombie foreclosures continue to plague all areas even though a property might not outright look abandoned.
The report revealed the largest annual increases among the top five states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures in the first quarter of 2025.
