Vacancy Rate Rises 2.3%

The number of vacant houses for sale edged up 2.3% in 2008 and remains stubbornly high at 2.23 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of vacant houses on the market rose above two million in the fourth quarter of 2006 and has not retreated due to distress in the housing market and rising foreclosures. Earlier in the decade, the number of vacant homes for sale averaged 1.25 million. This inventory of vacant new and existing homes is concentrated in the most troubled housing markets -Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Michigan and Ohio. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that builders reduced their inventory of unsold homes by 100,000 units since December 2007. But they still have an inventory of 400,000 to 450,000 of newly constructed and vacant homes, despite a precipitous drop in building over the past 18 months. The Census Bureau report also shows the nation's homeownership rate dropped to 67.8% in the fourth quarter from 68.9% in the same period in 2007.