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Vacancies are at "epidemic levels" in urban and rural areas alike, according to Axios Managing Editor Kim Hart on CNBC's The Exchange. In this Video Spotlight, Hart discusses which cities have been hit hardest, and if abandoned and vacant homes are the next housing crisis.
Vacancy rates in the first quarter 2019 were 7.0% for rental housing and 1.4% for homeowner housing, and the homeownership rate of 64.2% was virtually unchanged from the rate in the first quarter 2018, but 0.6% points lower than the rate in the fourth quarter 2018. The homeownership rate was unchanged at 64.2%.
The homeowner vacancy rates outside MSAs (1.6%) was higher than the rate in the suburbs (1.3%), but not statistically different from the rate in principal cities (1.4%). The rates in principal cities and in the suburbs were not statistically different from each other. The homeowner vacancy rate in principal cities was lower than the first quarter 2018 rate, while rates in the suburbs and outside MSAs were not statistically different from the first quarter 2018 rates.
The first quarter 2019 rental vacancy rate was highest in the South (9.2%) followed by the Midwest (7.6%). The rental vacancy rates in Northeast (5.0%) and the West (4.6%) were not statistically different from each other. The rental vacancy rate in the West was lower than the first quarter 2018 rate, while rates in the Northeast, Midwest, and South were not statistically different from the first quarter 2018 rates.
