Vacancy Rates in the Northeast - What the numbers mean for the real estate market
April 29th, 2007 categories: Real Estate Market
According to Inman News,
The homeowner vacancy rate, a gauge of the number of unoccupied units for sale vs. the total homeowner inventory, was 2.1 percent (the national average) in first-quarter 2006 and has risen for seven consecutive quarters. A high vacancy rate can indicate an oversupply of housing units while a low vacancy rate can indicate a shortage in supply of housing units.
The homeowner vacancy rates in the Northeast are the best in the nation, at 1.9% for the first quarter of 2007, compared to 3.2% in the South, according to a recent report by the US Census Bureau. 1.9% represents an increase from the first quarter of 2006 when the rate was 1.7%.
While we are certainly in a buyer’s market in the Northeast, the homeowner vacancy rate seems to indicate that our buyer’s market is not as deep as it is elsewhere.
The rental vacancy rate in the Northeast was 7.1% in the first quarter of 2007, a decrease of .2% from the first quarter of 2006. The South had the highest vacancy rates, at 13.1% and the West had the lowest at 6.5%. This means that rentals will be a little more difficult to find and rental rates are likely to continue to edge up higher.
when they say it’s ove. Andreina Cecilio.