SC Sees Decline in 'Zombie Foreclosures'

ATTOM, the leading provider of property data, AI-powered intelligence, and real estate analytics solutions, released its latest Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report showing that 1.2 percent of residential properties in the United States were vacant in the final quarter of the year. That was down from 1.3 percent in the third quarter and in the same quarter last year.

The states with sufficient data to analyze and that had the largest declines in zombie properties were Arizona (down 34.9 percent to 56 zombie properties), Florida (down 19.6 percent to 2,220 zombie properties), California (down 10.4 percent to 267 zombie properties), South Carolina (down 9.6 percent to 141 zombie properties), and Oklahoma (down 8.9 percent to 82 zombie properties).

The report analyzes publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM — including foreclosure status, equity, and owner-occupancy status — matched against monthly updated vacancy data.

There were 269,195 properties in the foreclosure process in the fourth quarter, out of 105.1 million total properties analyzed. Of those properties in foreclosure, 3 percent, or 8,040 properties, were "zombies," meaning the owners had abandoned the homes before the conclusion of the foreclosure proceedings. The fourth-quarter zombie rate was down from 3.3 percent in the prior quarter and in the same quarter last year.

"The fourth-quarter data showed modest declines in both vacancy and zombie foreclosure rates nationwide," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM.  "While trends vary from state to state, vacant and abandoned homes continue to represent a relatively small share of the nation's housing stock."

ATTOM analyzed county tax assessor data for over 105.1 million residential properties for vacancy, broken down by foreclosure status and owner-occupancy status in the fourth quarter of 2026.