A Detailed Look Using Vacancy Data for the State of Ohio
More than 3.8 million residential properties sit within Ohio’s boundaries. As of Q4 2019, nearly 81,000 of those (or 2.12%) were deemed vacant properties or abandoned. The vacancy rate held steady from 2019’s third quarter, when 2.12% of the state’s homes were marked abandoned.
On zombie properties — residential homes in some stage of foreclosure — the vacancy rate in Ohio is more than double. There are almost 14,900 pre-foreclosure properties in the state, 5.52% of which are currently abandoned. This is down just slightly from the third quarter of 2019, when 5.58% of pre-foreclosure homes were zombie properties.
Investor-owned homes also see a higher rate of abandonment and vacancy in Ohio. Of the nearly 890,000 properties owned by investors in the state, more than 52,000 of them were vacant or abandoned as of Q4. That clocks in at a vacancy rate of 5.89% overall.
The state of Ohio outranks the national average for property vacancies. Nationally, just 1.55% of residential properties are abandoned (vs. Ohio’s 2.12%). Ohio also has higher vacancy rates on pre-foreclosure and investor-owned homes. The nation’s average for these categories is 2.96% and 3.85%, respectively.
See the chart below for a full snapshot of Ohio’s vacant, zombie, and abandoned properties as of Q4 2019.
| Property Status | Vacancy Rate | Total Number of Properties |
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Properties | 2.12% | 80,940 |
| Vacant, pre-foreclosure zombie properties | 5.53% | 823 |
| Vacant, investor-owned properties | 5.89% | 52,408 |
For the latest data on Ohio’s vacancy breakdown, check this page quarterly.