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Zillow finds 300,000 small empty lots could cut US housing deficit
Zillow Research estimates the deficit would fall to 4.44 million homes if one home were built on each lot listed for sale in June.
Zillow Research says more than 300,000 empty lots five acres or smaller were listed for sale on Zillow in June, representing 17.4% of all for-sale listings.
The outlet estimates that building one home on each of those lots would reduce the national housing deficit to about 4.44 million homes, a 6.3% reduction from the latest estimate.
Zillow Research calls these lots the lowest-hanging opportunity in a housing shortage that has been building for nearly two decades, linking it to the affordability crisis.
It also highlights that the typical listed lot is 0.57 acres, and notes that rural markets have the highest concentration of empty lots at 25.3% of listings, while urban lots have a much higher per-acre median cost, around $500,000 per acre.