To my understanding, most of the empty homes are owned by foreign investors..

Okay, so this comes to mind. I rented a room in a shared basement suite (only sharing kitchen and bathroom as there was no living room). I was told I could only pay cash and was given a lease, but not a legit one (lots of rules, things you really can't ask or expect of someone). At the time I was desperate to get out of where I was and the price was right. As I spent more time there, I began to suspect that it was all super shady. The house was owned by a Cantonese couple who had a daughter (and I think a son). I only ever spoke to her, because she was the only one who could speak English. She would text me things about how her parents were going to be away because they had business back home and such and such. But they would spend A LOT of time back home on business. Made me think they didn't really live here .. I'm not sure how it works for them but I know as a Canadian and you can only spend so many days in the states (my bfs dad owns a trailer at a Ranch in the states - he can only go there.. x amount of days of the year).

Soooo.. the point, I'm so badly getting to... is people who own these homes will find ways to occupy them, by having family members come stay.. sorry if I'm not making the best sense.