U.S. Vacant Homes Hit Record High

Census Bureau: 2.9 Percent Of Homes For Sale Were Vacant In First Quarter Of Year

(AP)  The percentage of vacant homes for sale in the U.S. set a new record high in the first quarter of this year, the government said Monday.

The Census Bureau report shows that shows that 2.9 percent of U.S. homes - excluding rental properties - were vacant and up for sale, compared with 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. It was the highest quarterly number in records going back to 1956.

That works out to 2.28 million properties, up from 2.18 million in the same quarter last year, according to the report.

The West had the biggest gain in vacancy rates among homeowners, rising to 7 percent in the January-March period from 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. Vacancy rates fell in the Midwest and South, but rose in the Northeast. The national vacancy rate, including new and existing homes, has been steadily rising since mid-2005.

Global Insight economist Patrick Newport called the report "worrisome."

"The inventory problem has not gotten any better," Newport said. Although glut-fighting home builders have reined in construction, "they still will have to cut back more."

The Census Bureau's report also said that the U.S. homeownership rate remained at 67.8 percent in the first quarter, down from a peak of 69.2 percent at the end of 2004.


The housing market's five-year boom is quickly becoming a faint memory, as sales and home prices have fallen dramatically over the past two years in once hot sales areas such as California and Nevada.

Last week, a Commerce Department report said sales of new homes plunged in March to the slowest pace in 16 1/2 years.

Centex Corp., Pulte Homes Inc., Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. and other builders have been caught with unsold properties over the past year as mortgages became harder to get, sales slowed and the economy soured.

Builders have slashed prices, but the discounts have done little to lure buyers who are holding out, uncertain about when the price-drop will stop.

The National Association of Realtors reported last week that sales of existing homes also fell in March, dropping by 2 percent, with prices declining on a year-over-year basis by 7.7 percent.

[forthepeopl1]

The Number represents oil imports in the month of December 2007 so tell me why are we thier in iraq??? and why are complaining to opec, looks like more from canada and mexico isn''''t that far behind, oh ya, we do like getting f/u/c/k/ by our freinds dont we

CANADA 2,326
SAUDI ARABIA 1,686
VENEZUELA 1,382
MEXICO 1,322
NIGERIA 1,271
ALGERIA 600
ANGOLA 439

IRAQ 378

VIRGIN ISLANDS 369
RUSSIA 287
ECUADOR 201
UNITED KINGDOM 179
BRAZIL 178
KUWAIT 158
LIBYA 138

[tucano2]

There are really very few vacant houses because the homeless and/or illegal aliens have moved into them as squatters. Here''s yet another opportunity to arrest and deport illegal aliens; do you think "OUR" governments at any level are going to do their sworn duty???

[inventagod2]

Real Estate Agents.

The leading cause of high home prices.
Because 3 PerCent is just not enough....

[element51]

Braniff77....Interesting you should mention striping out valuable metals. There is a bill in the state house right now to raise the penalty for anyone caught stealing copper. They are also going to require anyone who stocks over 50.00 worth of copper to register the amount they have with the state. As to why homes aren''t moving.....they are simply priced to high for most people to afford them. Even apartments for rent here have gone through the roof. The average wage in this area is 9 to 12 per hour and that''s considered a GOOD job. How can you qualify for a 250K mortgage on that kind of income and pay everything else too? Answer...you can''t.

[braniff77]

I''ve seen this type of data before and it is always presented in a confusing manner. The headline says "2.9% of homes for sale were vacant". The text says "2.9% of US homes were vacant and up for sale." There''s a big difference. And how do they define "vacant"? Is a home that is for sale but being rented in the meantime considered vacant? If a home is for sale and the owner is still living there but not paying the mortgage, is that considered occupied? Or are there really 2.3 million totally empty homes out there waiting for vandals to come rip out the valuable metals?

[quetzal0666]

It makes no sence how Homes Appreciate in Value.
Logic Dictates that things Depreciate,
how is this scam possible?

[sjc_1]

Many of the homes in the "let''s flip this house" market were leased out. The banks will not continue to lease to the tenants, which makes no sense. The bank owned properties that were not leased are sitting empty and could be leased. They are not going to be selling them any time soon, so you might as well pay your interest and lease them.