No significant change in vacancy rates
National vacancy rates in the fourth quarter were 9.4 percent in rental housing and 1.7 percent in homeowner housing, the Department of Commerce's Census Bureau announced today. The Census Bureau said the rental vacancy rate was higher than last year (8.8 percent), but not significantly different from last quarter (9.1 percent). The homeowner vacancy rate did not change significantly from last year (1.8 percent) or last quarter (1.7 percent).
For rental housing, the vacancy rates were highest outside metropolitan areas (MAs) (11.0 percent) and lowest in central cities (9.3 percent) and the suburbs (8.9 percent), though not significantly different from each other. While the rental vacancy rate in the suburbs was higher than the rate last year, no significant change occurred for other areas.
The homeowner vacancy rates were highest outside MAs (2.1 percent) and lowest in central cities (1.7 percent) and in the suburbs (1.5 percent), though not significantly different from each other. The homeowner vacancy rate in central cities was lower than the rate last year, while other areas did not change significantly.
Among regions, the rental vacancy rates were highest in the South (12.9 percent) and Midwest (10.2 percent) and lowest in the Northeast (5.6 percent) and West (7.0 percent). The rental vacancy rate in the South was higher than the rate last year, while rates in other regions were not significantly different from those shown a year ago.
The homeowner vacancy rates by region were lowest in the Northeast (1.0 percent), while rates in the other regions were not significantly different from each other. The homeowner vacancy rates in the Northeast and South (1.9 percent) were lower than last year’s rates respectively, while rates in other regions showed no significant change during the same time period.
There were an estimated 124.0 million housing units in the United States in the fourth quarter 2002. Approximately 109.0 million housing units were occupied; 74.4 million by owners and 34.6 million by renters. The number of owner-occupied units increased since last year, while the number of renter-occupied units did not change significantly. Of the 15.0 million vacant housing units, 11.5 million were for year-round use. Approximately 3.6 million of the year-round vacant units were for rent, 1.3 million were for sale only, and the remaining 6.6 million units were vacant for a variety of reasons.
The fourth quarter 2002 homeownership rate (68.3 percent) was not significantly different from the rate last quarter (68.0 percent) or the rate last year (68.0 percent). The seasonally adjusted homeownership rate (68.2 percent) for the fourth quarter 2002, was not significantly different than the rate a year ago (68.0 percent), but was higher than the rate last quarter (67.8 percent).
During the fourth quarter 2002, the homeownership rate by region was highest in the Midwest (73.3 percent) and lowest in the West (62.6 percent). For the Northeast (64.9 percent), the homeownership rate was higher than the rate a year ago (64.0 percent) while the rates in other regions remained statistically unchanged for the same time period.
The homeownership rates by age of householder ranged from 81.5 percent for the 55 to 64 years age group to 42.0 percent for the under 35 years age group for the fourth quarter 2002. The homeownership rate for the age group 35 to 44 years (69.0 percent) was higher than last year (68.2 percent), while the rates for the other age groups did not change significantly from their respective rates a year ago.
The fourth quarter 2002 homeownership rates, when tabulated by race and ethnicity, ranged from 74.8 percent for non-Hispanic White householders to 47.5 percent for Black householders. The rates for non-Hispanic White householders (74.8 percent) and Other race householders (55.4 percent) were higher than their respective rates last year, while there were no significant changes in the other racial categories.
The homeownership rate for households with family income greater than or equal to the median family income (83.3 percent) increased since last year (82.2 percent), while the rate for households with family income less than the median family income did not change significantly during the same time period.
