U S. housing stock: vacant units for rent 2022
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According to new research from 24/7 Wall St., that's where a "large number" of vacant properties in the U.S. can be found. The vacancy rate in the country is at a low point right now — a reported 1.4 percent, but some areas are still plagued by unoccupied single-family homes. Meanwhile, vacancy rates for rental housing are at 7 percent for the first quarter of 2019, data from the U.S. Maryland’s Ocean City is a popular resort destination that attracts roughly 8 million visitors per year. Of the town’s more than 26,000 vacant housing units, upwards of 25,000 are vacation homes that are only occupied part-time.
Alaska was the only one of the three where housing vacancy increased over the last decade. The town of South Padre Island is on the island of South Padre, just off the Texas coast. As is the case in many parts of the country, housing inventory on South Padre Island has dropped by quite a bit and housing prices have gone up, with a 74% increase in listing prices over the last year. Mammoth Lakes visitors get not one, but two ski resorts to choose from, with both Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain ski areas nearby.
Statistics
The economy here is relatively stable, although unemployment sits at 4.5%, 0.8% higher than the U.S. average. Housing prices have increased by approximately 20% in the last year, while inventory is down by more than 50%. A New Jersey beach town that is part of the Ocean City Metro area, Wildwood Crest is a sought-after destination for beachgoers and outdoor enthusiasts.
The one thing most experts agree on, regardless whether vacant homes are in cities, towns or rural areas, is that there is no system to move people into these homes. It has the highest vacancy rate, 16.5 percent, among metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residential properties. Wichita, Kansas, and Syracuse, New York, followed at 9.5 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. When broken down by zip code and county, areas in Peoria also had the highest rates of owner-vacated properties.
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More than half of the nearly 9,000 housing units here are vacant due to being used seasonally, and there are just over 200 homes that are either for sale or for rent. The economy here has remained stable, with a low unemployment rate of 3.4%, and housing prices have increased slightly. Sanibel has become more of a seller’s market, with inventory down by nearly 50% in the last year, although homes appear to remain on the market longer. Destin is a Florida beach town on the Gulf of Mexico, known for its fishing and for the many golf courses in the area. There is a fairly healthy tourist trade, which explains why of the more than 8,000 vacant homes in the region, over 7,000 of those are used seasonally. Overall, the housing market here is strong, with home prices approximately 30% higher than they were a year ago, and total inventory for single family homes nearly 30% less.
This was an increase over one million from 2020 when the total housing stock amounted to 140.8 million units. The Census Bureau tracks the number of vacant homes in the U.S. on a quarterly basis and, as of October 2019, the number stands at about 17 million. The last time the number of vacant homes was 13.9 million was in 2001, according to the Federal Reserve of St. Louis. “Over 633k homeless in US, over 13.9 million vacant homes, 22 homes available per person, capitalism must end,” reads the caption. It cites the National Alliance to End Homelessness as the source of its figures.
Cities With the Most Vacant Homes
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.
Increasingly, however, they are looking toward “rightsizing” or “smart decline” as a way to adjust city services and housing stock to suit smaller populations. Youngstown, Ohio and Flint, Michigan are two cities in which planners have explicitly acknowledged the need to adjust to declining populations. Studies attempting to quantify the effect of foreclosures on surrounding property values find that foreclosures depressed the sales prices of nearby homes by as little as 0.9 percent to as much as 8.7 percent. There are 16 million empty homes across the United States, according to a LendingTree study published this month. A high vacancy rate does not necessarily signify a lack of demand and low prices, the analysis explained.
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%.
A large percentage of the homes here are seasonal or vacation homes, with only a small number of housing units that are for rent or for sale. The housing market here is good insofar as appreciation, with median list prices on homes going up by more than 40% in the last year, but inventory is also higher than in recent years. There are more than 4,700 vacant housing units here, but upwards of 3,000 of those are vacation homes that are used seasonally. The overall economy here is stable, with an unemployment rate of 3.5% and job markets increasing by 1.8% in the last year. Just off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, Siesta Key is a beach town with a vibrant tourist trade, enjoying the overflow of Sarasota visitors as well as Florida residents looking to get away.
The island of Nantucket, located roughly 30 miles by boat from Cape Cod, relies heavily on tourism to support its economy. As is common in so many tourism-focused regions, there are more than 4,500 homes sitting vacant on the island, with most belonging to seasonal residents who are only there occasionally. The housing market here is stable, with inventory only down by about 11%, although home prices have also dropped by about 10%.
The White House reports that as of 2019, over half a million Americans don’t have a home to sleep in on any given night, while almost 17 million potential homes were standing empty. If the overall numbers of homeless citizens weren’t shocking enough, between 2017 and 2019, there was an increase of over 34,000 unsheltered homeless people nationally - even before a global pandemic and expected recession. The number of housing units in the United States has been growing year on year and in 2021, there were approximately 142 million housing units in the United States.
Of the over 11,000 vacant homes, more than 8,000 of those are seasonal residences. While the state banned vacation rentals in early 2020 due to the coronavirus, the short-term rental market as a whole has bounced back, both in Florida and across the country. Ruidoso’s proximity to Ski Apache resort makes it a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, and of the nearly 6,000 vacant homes, almost three-quarters are residences that are used recreationally or seasonally.
Finally, at any given time, about 1/3 of all homes in the United States are simply between owners. These are homes awaiting renters, waiting for the contract to close out, or simply on the market for sale. First, about 1/3 of all vacant homes in the United States are completely abandoned and need significant repairs. That’s roughly 5 million homes that sit empty every night but in many ways, are completely unlivable. While there’s a ton of vacant homes in the United States, they’re not going anywhere any time soon. Even with the number of vacant homes dropping a bit each year, there are still so many out there.
Government Accountability Office reported in 2011 that vacant residential units, not including those used seasonally or by migrant workers, increased from 7 million in 2000 to 10 million in 2010. To them, empty homes can become assets in neighborhood stabilization and revitalization that can be renovated and reoccupied. Census surveys reveal U.S. vacancy rates, but applying the data to a home search or to social issues is complex.
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.
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