According to data from the 2020 United States Census, about one in ten homes across America are vacant. This is despite the fact that many people are currently having trouble finding homes to buy, with available inventory on the market remaining quite limited. However, the reasons for these vacancies are complex, and vary depending on where exactly you are looking.
What Does it Mean For a Property to Be Vacant?
When the census describes a home as “vacant,” that means that it was not occupied on April 1 of a given year, which is the traditional census day. This includes any secondary homes, rental homes, abandoned or foreclosed properties, as well as any empty homes for sale. It also includes quarters for migrant workers, as well as any investment properties.
Where Are These Vacant Homes?
While the average rate of vacancy across the United States is around 9.7%, this is merely an average, and varies wildly depending on location. For example, Vermont and Maine had vacancy rates as high as 23%, and Alaska was just behind with around 21% of vacant homes. West Virginia, Alabama, Florida, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Louisiana and Wyoming all also had vacancy rates above 15%. Meanwhile, Oregon, Washington, Connecticut and New Jersey all had some of the lowest vacancy rates across the country, with only 8% of homes being vacant.
Why Are These Homes Vacant?
The reason many of these homes are vacant varies from place to place. In locations where home prices are relatively low, vacancies are often the result of the property being seen as undesirable in some way, either for investment purposes or for habitation. In areas where real estate prices are high, however, investors often swoop in to pick up new properties that they can later resell for a profit. Some of these homes are also only occupied some of the year, and just so happen to be unoccupied when the census is taken (such as is the case with vacation homes and migrant worker housing).
What Effect Do These Vacancies Have?
The fact that so many vacant homes are not available for sale (at a time when demand for real estate is so high) helps to keep home prices up. If more homes were to go onto the market, it would help to alleviate the pressures caused by the lack of inventory in places like New York, potentially making homes more affordable. However, given that vacancy rates do not tend to fluctuate much over the short term, it will likely be some time before more homes become available for purchase.
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