Robert R. Callis For Release 10:00 AM EDT, February 1, 1995 Alan Friedman CB96-06 (301) 763-8165 CENSUS BUREAU REPORTS ON RESIDENTIAL VACANCIES AND HOMEOWNERSHIP National vacancy rates in the fourth quarter 1995 were 7.7 percent (+/-0.3) in rental housing and 1.6 percent (+/-0.1) in homeowner housing, the Department of Commerce's Census Bureau announced today. The Bureau said that neither the rental vacancy rate nor the homeowner vacancy rate was significantly different from the rate last quarter or the rate in the fourth quarter of 1994. Table 1. RENTAL AND HOMEOWNER VACANCY RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES: 1980 to 1995 Rental vacancy rates Homeowner vacancy rates First Second Third Fourth First Second Third Fourth Year quarter quarter quarter quarter quarter quarter quarter quarter . . 1995... 7.4 7.7 7.7 7.7 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.6 1994... 7.5 7.4 7.2 7.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.6 1993r.. 7.8 7.6 7.0 6.9 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1993... 7.9 7.6 7.1 6.9 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1992... 7.4 7.7 7.3 7.1 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.5 1991... 7.5 7.3 7.6 7.3 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.6 1990... 7.5 7.0 7.2 7.2 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1989r.. 7.5 7.4 7.6 7.1 1.7 1.7 1.9 1.8 1989... 7.3 7.3 7.3 6.8 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.6 1988... 8.0 7.7 7.8 7.3 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1987... 7.4 7.5 8.1 7.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1986... 6.9 7.3 7.5 7.7 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.6 1985... 6.3 6.2 6.8 6.7 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.6 1984... 5.6 5.5 6.0 6.3 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1983... 5.7 5.5 5.8 5.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.6 1982... 5.3 5.1 5.3 5.5 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.6 1981... 5.2 5.0 5.0 5.0 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.4 1980... 5.2 5.6 5.7 5.0 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 rRevised. Note: Release of these data, scheduled for January 23, was delayed due to the government shutdown. For rental housing, the vacancy rate was lowest in the suburbs (6.9 percent). The rental vacancy rate in central cities was about the same as the rate outside Metropolitan Areas (MAs). For homeowner housing, the vacancy rate was highest in central cities (2.1 percent) and lowest in the suburbs (1.3 percent). Among regions, the rental vacancy rate was highest in the South (8.5 percent), while rates in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were not significantly different from each other. The rental vacancy rate in the Midwest was higher than the fourth quarter 1994 rate, while rates in the Northeast, South, and West did not differ significantly from one year ago. For homeowner housing, the vacancy rate in the Midwest was lower than in the South and West, but not significantly different from the Northeast. The homeowner vacancy rate in the South was lower than a year ago, while no other region showed any significant change from a year ago. Table 2. RENTAL AND HOMEOWNER VACANCY RATES BY REGION: FOURTH QUARTER 1995 AND 1994 Rental vacancy rates Homeowner vacancy rates Area 4th 4th Std err Standard 4th 4th Std err Standard Qtr Qtr on 1995 error on Qtr Qtr on 1995 error on 1995 1994 rate differ- 1995 1994 rate differ- ence ence United States....... 7.7 7.4 0.2 0.2 1.6 1.6 0.1 0.1 Inside MAs........ 7.7 NA 0.2 NA 1.5 NA 0.1 NA In central cities 8.4 NA 0.3 NA 2.1 NA 0.1 NA Not in central cities (suburbs). 6.9 NA 0.3 NA 1.3 NA 0.1 NA Outside MAs...... 8.0 NA 0.5 NA 1.7 NA 0.1 NA Northeast......... 6.9 7.1 0.4 0.5 1.5 1.6 0.1 0.2 Midwest........... 7.6 6.8 0.4 0.5 1.3 1.2 0.1 0.1 South............. 8.5 8.3 0.3 0.4 1.7 1.9 0.1 0.1 West............. 7.5 6.8 0.3 0.5 1.8 1.6 0.1 0.2 rRevised. NA Not available. There were an estimated 113.0 million housing units in the United States in the fourth quarter 1995. Approximately 100.4 million were occupied, 65.4 million by owners and 35.0 million by renters. Of the 12.6 million vacant housing units, 9.5 million were for year-round use, while the remaining 3.1 million were intended for seasonal use. Approximately 3.0 million of the year-round vacant units were for rent, 1.1 million were for sale only, and the remaining 5.5 million were vacant for a variety of reasons. Table 3. ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL HOUSING INVENTORY FOR THE UNITED STATES: FOURTH QUARTER 1995 (Numbers in thousands) Standard Type Estimate error on Percent estimate distribution All housing units..... 112,987 230 100 Occupied....................... 100,363 237 89 Owner........................ 65,355 230 58 Renter....................... 35,008 190 31 Vacant......................... 12,624 123 11 Year-round................... 9,529 108 8 For rent.................... 2,966 61 3 For sale only............... 1,050 37 1 Other....................... 5,513 83 5 Seasonal..................... 3,095 63 3 During the fourth quarter 1995, the homeownership rate was 65.1 percent (+/-0.3). The homeownership rate was higher than a year ago, but not significantly different from the rate last quarter. Table 4. HOMEOWNERSHIP RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES: 1980 to 1995 Homeownership Rates1 Year First Second Third Fourth quarter quarter quarter quarter . 1995................. 64.2 64.7 65.0 65.1 1994................. 63.8 63.8 64.1 64.2 1993r................ 63.7 63.9 64.2 64.2 1993................. 64.2 64.4 64.7 64.6 1992................. 64.0 63.9 64.3 64.4 1991................. 63.9 63.9 64.2 64.2 1990................. 64.0 63.7 64.0 64.1 1989r................ 63.9 63.8 64.1 63.8 1989................. 63.9 63.9 64.0 63.8 1988................. 63.7 63.7 64.0 63.8 1987................. 63.8 63.8 64.2 64.1 1986................. 63.6 63.8 63.8 63.9 1985................. 64.1 64.1 63.9 63.5 1984................. 64.6 64.6 64.6 64.1 1983................. 64.7 64.7 64.8 64.4 1982................. 64.8 64.9 64.9 64.5 1981................. 65.6 65.3 65.6 65.2 1980................. 65.5 65.5 65.8 65.5 1Standard errors for quarterly homeownership rates for the United States generally are 0.2 percent. rRevised. Note: This press release along with more detailed data is available on the Internet. Our Internet address is https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing.html. The data in this release are the result of a sample survey and are, therefore, subject to sampling variability. For example, the standard error on the estimated rental vacancy rate of 7.7 is 0.2 percentage points. Consequently, the 90 percent confidence interval as shown by these data is from 7.4 to 8.0; i.e., the interval 7.7 +/- (1.6 x 0.2) percentage points. Thus, one can say with about 90 percent confidence that the average estimate derived from all possible samples is included in this confidence interval. The 90 percent confidence intervals are shown in the text above for selected items. The standard errors for other figures in this release are given in the tables. Hypothesis testing may be performed at various levels of significance, where a level of significance is the probability of concluding that the parameters are different when, in fact, they are identical. All statements of comparison in the text have passed a hypothesis test at the 0.10 level of significance. This means that, for differences cited in the text, the estimated difference between characteristics is greater than 1.6 times the standard error of the difference. In addition to sampling error, the figures in this release, both the estimates and their standard errors, are also subject to nonsampling error. Source: U.S. Census Bureau