The U.S. vacancy rate and the rate of
homeownership both declined in the first quarter of 2013 with the homeownership
rate hitting the lowest level in 17 years.
According to the Census Bureau the rate of homeownership in the country
declined from 65.6 in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 65.2. The rate in the first quarter of 2012 was
65.5 percent. The first quarter 2013
rate is the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 1995 when it was 65.1. The vacancy rate was 8.6 percent, 0.2
percentage points lower than one year earlier and 0.1 percentage point lower
than in the fourth quarter of 2012.

There were 133.08 million housing units
in the U.S. in the first quarter, an increase of 486,000 from one year
earlier. Of those 114,643 were occupied,
an increase of 520,000 and 18.4 million were vacant, essentially unchanged from
the year before. Of the total housing
stock 74.5 million units or 56 percent were owner occupied and 46.1 million or
30.2 percent were occupied by renters.

Vacant housing stock represents 13.9
percent of the total and 10.5 percent is considered to be year-round housing
while 3.4 percent is for seasonal use.
Units for sale only make up 1.2 percent of housing stock and units for rent
2.9 percent. For various reasons
including occasional use by the owner or a person with another usual residence,
5.7 percent of stock was being held off of the market.
The vacancy rate for rental housing was
higher inside of principal cities (8.6 percent) than in the suburbs (7.8
percent) and lower than the rate outside of metropolitan statistical areas
(MSAs) (10.6 percent). The suburban
vacancy rate was down from a year earlier while rates inside of principal cities
and outside of MSAs did not change in a statistically significant manner.
The vacancy rate was higher in the South
(9.9 percent) than in the other three regions.
The Midwest had a rate of 9.5 percent while the Northeast was at 7.2
percent and the West was 6.9 percent.
The rate in the South was down from a year earlier while there was
little statistical difference between the periods in the other three regions.
The median asking price for vacant
rental units in the first quarter was $718.
The median asking price for a vacant unit that was for sale was
$139,800.


Homeownership rates were lowest in the
West at 59.4 percent, and highest in the Midwest at 70.0 percent, a pattern that
has been in place since at least 2007. The
Northeast rate was 62.5 percent and the South was 66.5 percent. The Midwest was the only region to post an
increase in homeownership on both a quarterly and annual basis.
As always the oldest age cohort, those
over 65 years, had the highest homeownership rate at 80 percent and those under
35 years the lowest rate at 36.8 percent.
Non-Hispanic whites, again as usual, had the highest rate of
homeownership at 73.4 followed by all other races at 54.6 percent, Hispanic at
45.3, and Black alone 43.1 percent. Not
surprisingly households with family income equal to or greater than the median
had a rate of 80.0 percent while those with incomes below the median had a
homeownership rate of 50.0 percent.