These 5 States Have the Most Vacant Homes (2024)

FAQs

Where are the most vacant houses? ›

The three most vacant cities in the U.S. are all in Florida: Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. These cities are known for tourism and vacation homes, which means houses sit vacant for much of the year.

The state of Texas is home to more than 7.5 million residential properties. As of the close of 2019's fourth quarter, nearly 97,000 of those properties — or 1.29% — have been marked abandoned or vacant.

Sixteen million homes currently sit vacant across the U.S. In every state across the country, many homes remain empty while hundreds of thousands of Americans face homelessness.

Florida Has the Most Vacant Homes in the U.S.

A new study released by LendingTree found that over 16 million homes in the U.S. are vacant, and Florida has the most vacant homes in the country with nearly 1.7 million vacant housing units.

The MSA with the highest vacancy rate is Little Rock, Arkansas, at 16.3%. The Little Rock market's vacancies have fluctuated significantly over the past several years, from 11.0% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 6.0% in the first quarter of 2022 and 13.3% in the third quarter of 2022.

Each state has between 20% and 22% of its housing stock vacant. For those residing in the Lone Star State, Texas ranked 33 in the nation. The study says there are more than 11 million houses in Texas with more than 1.2 million being vacant, earning Texas a vacancy rate of 10.59%.

This equates to about 74% of the population of Texas BoS CoC. The Department of Housing and Urban Development requires us to submit data for the entire geography of our CoC.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey, May 3, 2023. Approximately 89.6 percent of the housing units in the United States in the first quarter 2023 were occupied and 10.4 percent were vacant.

As a result, there is a sizable shortage of new homes after more than a decade of under-building relative to population growth, according to a new analysis from Realtor.com released Wednesday. The gap between single-family home constructions and household formations grew to 6.5 million homes between 2012 and 2022.

How many empty homes are in New York? ›

Empty House Across New York

According to LendingTree, New York state has 955,437 empty homes. This makes it 4th in the nation for vacancies, only behind Florida, California, and Texas.

Florida houses also tend to be smaller in size than other homes in different states. As these properties are smaller, median property prices will be lower as well. Additionally, houses for sale in Florida tend to be older homes. This factor contributes to the lower property prices as well.

According to the 2010 Census, the Chicago region contains 3,377,190 housing units, of which 3,092,325 (91.6 percent) are occupied and 284,865 (8.4 percent) are vacant.

Pinellas County has one of the highest concentrations of any Florida county, at nearly 0.3% with nearly 3,000 homeless people and a population in general of almost one million.

To find the best job markets in America, head to the South. Nashville, Tenn., topped the list of 2022's hottest job markets, followed by Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Fla. Other cities known for tourism—notably Orlando, Las Vegas and New Orleans—climbed the ranks last year.

Michael Jackson reportedly purchased the 2,700-acre California property in 1987 for $19.5 million dollars. He constantly entertained and threw lavish parties when he lived on the Disney-like ranch — he even threw Kim Kardashian a party for her 14th birthday.

Common Reasons People Abandon Houses

Financial distress culminates in an inability to pay the mortgage. Missed mortgage payments occur, which leads to the foreclosure process. Unpaid back taxes. The owner passes away.

How much of Texas is owned by foreigners? ›

Despite the growth, however, the amount of land held by foreign investors only represents around 3% of the state's overall 153 million acres of private agricultural land.

Like with virtually all other states, there are no Texas state laws that prohibit off grid living.

Among the 9.985 million households in Texas in 2019, 6.18 million, or 61.9%, are owner occupied.

California, Vermont, and Oregon have the highest rates of homelessness across the 50 states. About 582,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness, according to 2022 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data.

The ten states with the most homeless are California, New York, Florida, Texas, Washington, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Ohio. The state with the most homeless is California, with a homeless population of 161,548 people. New York follows closely behind, with a homeless population of 91,271 people.

Only about 7 million of California's roughly 40 million residents own their homes, the lowest rate of home ownership in the United States, according to a new study.

Homeownership rates double between the ages of 25 and 29, and 70 and older are the most likely to be homeowners. The average homeowner is 56 years old. 23.4% of homeowners are between 55 and 64 years old.

Yet no-mortgage owners in California are only 33% of all homeowners – and only four places have a smaller share: D.C. at 24%, Maryland at 28% and Colorado and Utah at 30%.

San Jose, California; San Diego, California; Austin, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona, will likely see noticeable increases before drastic decreases of more than 25%.

Which states are in a housing crisis? ›

The Bay Area has the worst performing housing market in the nation, according to a new report.

The housing market's crash during the Great Recession led the industry to pull back on construction for many years, and materials and labor shortages during the height of the pandemic fueled another slowdown.

There is a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for renters with extremely low incomes in the US, up 8 percent from 6.8 million in 2019. The lack of housing options for renters with extremely low incomes are driving the overall affordable housing shortage across the country.

Bottom line. Several issues have contributed to the country's current housing shortage, including the pandemic, inflation and increased interest rates. Essentially, though, it's a problem of supply and demand: New home construction dropped precipitously after the Great Recession and has yet to fully recover.

An estimated 3,400 people are living unsheltered in the subways, on the streets of Manhattan, or in one of the other boroughs. However, the vast majority of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness spend the night within the city's shelter system where they remain unseen.

As of 2017, New York City had 3,469,240 total housing units. Of these units, 1,038,200 are owner-occupied and 2,183,064 are renter-occupied. Over half of all renters in New York City spend 30% or more of their income on rent and one third of renters spend 50% of their income on rent.

The vast majority of the city's approximately 50,000 homeless people live in shelters — about 30,000 in family shelters, and about 18,000 in shelters for single adults.

Originally Answered: Why does it seem like there are so many rambler/ single level homes in Florida and fewer two-story homes? Generally in very warm climates, two-story houses are unpopular due to how hot the second level gets. "Heat rises" so to many the second floor is unbearably hot and not worth it.

Texas is actually one of the more affordable states in the country. Compared to national averages, living expenses here tend to be cheaper — though how much cheaper varies based on where you choose to live in the state.

How much does a decent house cost in Florida? ›

Florida is a popular destination for retirees, families, and young professionals due to its warm weather, beautiful beaches, and vibrant cities. The average home value in Florida is around $377,000 as of 2023. This is an increase of 11.8% compared to the previous year.

The three most vacant cities in the U.S. are all in Florida: Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. These cities are known for tourism and vacation homes, which means houses sit vacant for much of the year. More than 16 million housing units in the U.S. are vacant, bringing the overall vacancy rate to 11.6%.

Despite making up about one-third of the city of Chicago's total population, Black/African Americans are overrepresented at 73 percent of the homeless population. White Non-Hispanics comprise 12.7 percent of the homeless population. People of Hispanic or Latino origin accounted for 12 percent.

Southern areas of Chicago, including South Shore, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Grand Boulevard, and Douglas, have the city's lowest median net worth ($4,439). And in some western areas, including Humboldt Park; North and South Lawndale; and East and West Garfield Park, median net worth isn't much higher ($4,452).

In 2022, Los Angeles had the nation's largest homeless population. About 582,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness, according to 2022 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data.

Based on this data, we found that Colorado, Georgia and Oregon have the overall best homeless assistance, and Oklahoma, Arkansas and West Virginia have the worst. Factors we looked at include: Transitional housing.

down-and-out. drifter. hobo. homeless person. shopping-bag lady.

Common Reasons People Abandon Houses

Financial distress culminates in an inability to pay the mortgage. Missed mortgage payments occur, which leads to the foreclosure process. Unpaid back taxes. The owner passes away.

California's chronic shortage of housing manifests itself in sky-high housing costs, the nation's worst poverty and its highest level of homelessness.

What state has the most abandoned towns? ›

A study conducted by a company named Geotab has compiled a list of over 3,800 ghost towns across America. According to the company, Texas has the most ghost towns of any state, with over 500.

What Happens When a House Sits Vacant? Due to deferred maintenance and neglect, vacant houses are usually characterized by problems such as overgrown yards, broken windows, collapsing roofs, mold, and broken water pipes. Some of this damage is caused by vermin like raccoons, rats, mice, and bugs.

Believe it or not, there are thousands of abandoned homes across the United States. Some lavish estates that were once worth millions of dollars are now in crumbled ruins.

In fact, the average person will own at least three houses in their lifetime. Living in one place for most of your life may or may not be your goal, but if it is, there are things you must do as a homeowner to ensure your home lasts as long as you'd like it to.