U.S. Census Bureau Reports Q1 2021 Residential Vacancies & Homeowner Statistic

The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday (4-27-21) the results of their Q1 2021 residential vacancies and homeowner statistics. The national vacancy rate in Q1 2021 were 6.8% for rental housing and 0.9% for homeowner housing. Little changed from Q1 2020 rates of 6.6% and 0.3% higher than the Q4 2020 rate. In Q1 2021, approximately 89.0% of the housing units in the U.S. were occupied and 11.0% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 58.3% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.6 % of the inventory in Q1 2021. Vacant year-round units comprised 8.4% percent of total housing units, while 2.7 % were vacant for seasonal use. Approximately 2.2% of the total units were vacant for rent, 0.5% were vacant for sale only, and 0.7% were rented or sold but not yet occupied. The rental vacancy rate in principal cities (7.3%) was higher than the rate in the suburbs (5.8%). The rate outside MSAs (7.7 %) was higher than both the rates inside MSAs (6.7%) and in the suburbs. The rate in principal cities was not statistically different from the rate outside MSAs. The rate in principal cities was higher than the Q1 2020 rate, the rate outside MSAs was lower than the Q1 2020 rate, but the rate in the suburbs was not statistically different from the Q1 2020 rate.