Vacancy rates don’t reflect what people think they do, and actual long term vacancy rates are a fraction of what people think they are.
In particular: the census’ published vacancy rates includes all housing that isn’t someone’s primary occupancy on census day to be unoccupied.
The vacancy rate includes buildings that are tied up in estate, forclosure or divorce proceedings, housing that is actively being renovated, that can’t be rented until it’s renovated or is mostly constructed. It includes units that are actively on the market. It includes units that just got rented or sold but where the new tenants will move in a week after the census. It includes housing where the owner is in jail, or on an extended work assignment elsewhere. It includes private vacation homes and AirBnBs.
You can argue about the ethics of evictions, forclosures, AirBnB and vacation homes, but the vacancy rate is fundamentally a snapshot of current occupancy. A certain amount of short term transient vacancies are expected, because many normal processes take time. You don’t sell your parents house and have someone move into it the day your parents die, after all. Vacancy rates are not evidence of a conspiracy to artificially lower the amount of housing in an area by holding units off market.
To my knowledge, the census doesn’t actually track the rate of long-term habitable vacancies, units that could be sold or rented tomorrow but aren’t on the market.
Vacancy rates don’t reflect what people think they do, and actual long term vacancy rates are a fraction of what people think they are.
In particular: the census’ published vacancy rates includes all housing that isn’t someone’s primary occupancy on census day to be unoccupied.
The vacancy rate includes buildings that are tied up in estate, forclosure or divorce proceedings, housing that is actively being renovated, that can’t be rented until it’s renovated or is mostly constructed. It includes units that are actively on the market. It includes units that just got rented or sold but where the new tenants will move in a week after the census. It includes housing where the owner is in jail, or on an extended work assignment elsewhere. It includes private vacation homes and AirBnBs.
You can argue about the ethics of evictions, forclosures, AirBnB and vacation homes, but the vacancy rate is fundamentally a snapshot of current occupancy. A certain amount of short term transient vacancies are expected, because many normal processes take time. You don’t sell your parents house and have someone move into it the day your parents die, after all. Vacancy rates are not evidence of a conspiracy to artificially lower the amount of housing in an area by holding units off market.
To my knowledge, the census doesn’t actually track the rate of long-term habitable vacancies, units that could be sold or rented tomorrow but aren’t on the market.