These 5 States Have the Most Vacant Homes
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In addition, a vacant unit may be one which is entirely occupied by persons who have a usual residence elsewhere. New units not yet occupied are classified as vacant housing units if construction has reached a point where all exterior windows and doors are installed and final usable floors are in place. Vacant units are excluded if they are exposed to the elements, that is, if the roof, walls, windows, or doors no longer protect the interior from the elements, or if there is positive evidence that the unit is to be demolished or is condemned. Also excluded are quarters being used entirely for nonresidential purposes, such as a store or an office, or quarters used for the storage of business supplies or inventory, machinery, or agricultural products. Vacant sleeping rooms in lodging houses, transient accommodations, barracks, and other quarters not defined as housing units are not included in the statistics. States with the highest vacancy rates in 2020 were Maine (21.2%), Vermont (18.7%), and Alaska (17.5%) .
A resort town on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, Orange Beach has upwards of 9,800 vacant homes. More than 6,000 of those vacancies are empty rental units, giving the town a whopping 87.5% rental vacancy rate. In 2018, Orange Beach banned short term-rentals of less than two weeks for single-family homes, primarily due to complaints by year-round residents.
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The unemployment rate here is lower than the national average, however, the region has seen a decrease in the job market over the last year. Known for Park City Mountain Resort and site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, as well the Sundance Film Festival, it attracts upwards of 600,000 visitors each year. The vacancies here are predominately seasonal residences, accounting for more than half of the city’s total housing. Park City maintains a strong and growing economy, with an unemployment rate of 2.7% and a slight job market increase of 0.4% in the last year. Big Bear City sits on the shores of Big Bear Lake, approximately 45 miles from San Bernardino. There are over 7,500 vacant homes here, but more than 7,000 of those are vacation homes for recreational use.
An empty home is what the government refers to as a ‘vacant housing unit’, which, for whatever reason, is not occupied by a citizen. This can include vacation homes but also properties which have sold but are not occupied. This is according to the United States Census Bureau, where all property data for this analysis was collected. You can see all exceptions and inclusions to property types in the official government definition. For this reason, a high vacancy rate does not necessarily signify a lack of demand and low prices, the LendingTree analysis explained.
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Local governments bear the cost of maintaining, administering, and demolishing vacant and abandoned properties as well as servicing them with police and fire protection and public infrastructure. One study calculated that the city of Philadelphia spends more than $20 million annually to maintain some 40,000 vacant properties, which cost a conservatively estimated $5 million per year in lost tax revenue to the city and school district. Vacant and abandoned properties have negative spillover effects that impact neighboring properties and, when concentrated, entire communities and even cities. Research links foreclosed, vacant, and abandoned properties with reduced property values, increased crime, increased risk to public health and welfare, and increased costs for municipal governments. A nationwide epidemic of unoccupied homes is "America's other housing crisis," according to a CityLab report based on a recent Center for Community Progress study. The report cites the "staggering economic and social costs" that mass vacancies tend to create for the communities they affect.
The unemployment rate here is fairly high, coming in at 5.2% as opposed to the national average of 3.7%. Homes here have continued to appreciate, however, with single-family listing prices going up by more than 25% in the last year. A resort town on the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Shores relies heavily on tourism, with more than 5 million visitors descending on the town in any given year pre-COVID. Right now, of the more than 13,000 housing units in Gulf Shores, more than 7,000 sit vacant, with just over 4,600 of those being vacant rental properties. Housing inventory in the region has increased exponentially in the last year, with an increase in housing prices as well. A small island on Florida’s gulf coast, Marco Island has a total of just over 18,000 housing units, of which more than 10,000 are vacant.
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Areas that are economically depressed tend to have more vacancies overall, and factors such as unemployment can affect those vacancy rates. Vacancy rates can also impact both home and rental markets, as higher vacancies mean more options for those seeking housing, and can result in lower rents or real estate prices. The average vacancy rate for rentals in the U.S. was about 7%, while the homeowner vacancy rate was about 1.4% as of 2019. Code enforcement and tax foreclosure can result in owners taking responsibility for or selling properties, public ownership of vacant properties, or public sale of properties to new owners.
There are minimal homes for sale here, with inventory showing depletion of more than 60% and median listing prices rising by more than 20%. Located approximately 12 miles from Lake Tahoe, the small town of Truckee has a number of vacant homes, but most of those are owned by people who use them seasonally or recreationally. Like much of the Lake Tahoe area, Truckee’s housing market has been impacted by an influx of urbanites looking to escape the confines of bigger cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles. Inventory is down by more than 70% from last year, and homes are selling within days as opposed to months.
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While a good portion of the vacant homes in Siesta Key belongs to part-time or seasonal owners, there are also more than 2,000 vacant rental properties. Florida’s governor imposed restrictions on short-term vacation rentals for the state during the initial coronavirus shutdowns, which was lifted in May 2020. Located along the beaches of North Carolina, Oak Island is a popular haven for tourists and seasonal residents, with most of the vacant homes here being vacation homes that are not occupied year-round.
The site allows data users to search geographies down to the block level and access data through tables, maps and downloads. America Counts Story Improved Race, Ethnicity Measures Show U.S. is More Multiracial Today’s release of 2020 Census data provides a new snapshot of the racial and ethnic composition of the country. As the state-level trends illustrate, not all areas of the United States experienced the housing crisis, Great Recession and subsequent recovery, in the same way. Core Based Statistical Areas — which comprise both metro and micro areas — show similar variations. These are homes that simply need someone to move into them, but it doesn’t mean that they’re sitting on the market ready for purchase.
Here, we highlighted three different reasons for the vacancies, and each category generally makes up 1/3 of the vacant home market at any given time. To really understand what’s going on with all the vacant homes in the United States, it’s essential to understand why these homes are vacant in the first place. While the Census Bureau breaks it all down into seven different categories, it’s actually possible to combine a few of those categories. The number lags some, but currently, there are about 15 million vacant homes in the United States.
The one with the highest vacancy rate is Gary, Indiana, where the number is above 19%. Big Bear Lake is a small town on the shores of Southern California’s Big Bear Lake, one of the region’s most popular lakeside destinations. The majority of vacant homes here are those used seasonally or recreationally, and there are minimal homes for sale or rent. Like nearby Big Bear City, the housing market here has shown a marked decrease in inventory over the last year, while home prices have gone up by approximately 20%.
Vacant and abandoned properties are linked to increased rates of crime and declining property values. The maintenance or demolition of vacant properties is a huge expense for many cities. The number of vacant homes for rent in the United States has been gradually declining over time. In the second quarter of 2022, there were approximately 2.6 million unoccupied housing units for rent.
There are more than 6,000 housing units in the Daytona Beach Shores community, and of those, more than 3,500 sit vacant. While most of those vacancies are homes that are used seasonally or recreationally, there are also more than 500 units that are either for rent or for sale. The housing market here has a slightly higher inventory than it did one year ago, but housing prices have also gone up by more than 20%, which may account for the slight rise in inventory. Of the more than 31,000 total housing units in the city of Four Corners, an excess of 16,000 of them are vacant. Seasonal and recreational homes account for most of those vacancies, as the town’s proximity to both the Atlantic coast and attractions like Walt Disney World make it a sought-after vacation destination. The housing market in Four Corners remains competitive, with steady appreciation over the last 10 years and a slight increase in the number of homes sold in the last year.
The problem is that these homes are already accounted for when addressing the shortage of homes. The truth is that there are tons of vacant homes around, but they’re not the panacea you’re looking for to solve the current housing shortage. We’ll break down everything you need to know about the vacant homes in the United States here. That said, home abandonment is a bigger problem in some parts of the country than it is in others.
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