DEC. 1, 2022 – The U.S. Census Bureau today released a new report showing the housing market tightened significantly after the 2009 foreclosure crisis, absorbing much of the excess vacancy it created.

The report – Which States Have the Highest Percentage of Vacant Housing Units? – examines the variation in state vacancy rates. It uses the Current Population Survey’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS) supplement to produce nationally representative information for all residential housing units in the United States.

Highlights:

• The vacancy rate declined nationally from 2009 to 2021, from 14.5% to 10.8%.
• State-by-state, overall vacancy rates experienced declines from 1.5 percentage points in Illinois to 10.5 percentage points in Arizona. (Visit page 5, footnote v of the report for additional important statistical significance details.)
• Since the foreclosure crisis in 2009, 40 states had a tighter rental market in 2021 with less rental housing available. Only North Dakota had more.
• With mortgage interest rates near record lows in 2021 and strong demand for housing, homeowner vacancy rates in 10 states were at 0.6% or lower. Nationally, the homeowner vacancy was 0.9% in 2021. (Visit page 6, footnotes xiii and xiv of the report for additional important statistical significance details.)

No news release associated with this report. Tip sheet only.

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