Vacant Land Listings Could Ease Housing Deficit

The Low-Hanging Fruit in a Two-Decade Problem

In June, Zillow had 300,242 empty lots for sale, each five acres or smaller, representing 17.4% of all properties on the platform.

The median vacant lot measures 0.57 acres and is priced at $79,000. Because many of these parcels could accommodate multiple dwellings, Zillow's projection may actually be conservative.

"Loosening zoning rules, streamlining permitting and expanding access to financing could reduce the cost and uncertainty associated with construction," said Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng.

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The housing crisis, which has persisted for roughly two decades, stems from a complex mix of land-use restrictions, labor shortages, and rising material costs. The severity of this shortfall has been building for years, and while vacant lots alone cannot solve the problem, they represent a concrete starting point. Policymakers and developers see these empty parcels as a way to bypass some of the most stubborn obstacles if infrastructure and zoning challenges can be addressed.

Vacant lots already zoned for residential use or easily rezoned could bypass some of these hurdles, especially in rural communities where land is cheap and permitting may be simpler. However, infrastructure such as roads, water, and sewer connections often missing in these areas would require investment.

The scale of the shortage is substantial. If the 300,242 lots were all developed, they would shrink the national housing deficit by roughly 6.3%, implying a total deficit of approximately 4.76 million homes. While these parcels offer a starting point, building on them will require not only zoning and permitting reforms but also significant public and private investment in infrastructure, particularly in rural regions where land is cheapest.

Where the Lots Are and What They Cost

Florida topped the list with 42,601 vacant lots on the market; Texas came next with 40,907, then California (18,508), North Carolina (14,226), and Georgia (10,334). In North Dakota, vacant lots represented the highest proportion of all listings - 45.9% - with South Dakota (38.7%) and Alaska (34.6%) close behind. Empty lots were most prevalent in rural areas, where they made up 25.3% of listings, versus 13.6% in the suburbs and just 9% in urban markets.

On a per-acre basis, rural lots were the cheapest, with a median price of roughly $75,000. In suburban areas, the median per-acre cost exceeded $181,000, while urban land averaged about $500,000 per acre.

What Could Actually Make This Happen

As part of a 12-week federal tech initiative with the U.S. Census Bureau's Opportunity Project, Zillow is working to make small-dollar housing loans more available in rural regions and to eliminate barriers for people looking to buy land and build homes. Additionally, Zillow noted that increasing the availability of manufactured homes could ease the deficit, as these units are quicker and cheaper to construct than conventional site-built houses.

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