US Residential Vacancies and Homeownership Statistics for Q1

On Monday, the US Census Bureau released its Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership report for Q1.

The national rental vacancy rate was 7.1%, while the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%. The rental vacancy rate was higher than the 6.6% recorded in 2024Q1 but not statistically different from the 6.9% rate in 2024Q4. The homeowner vacancy rate of 1.1% was higher than the 0.8% rate in 2024Q1 but essentially unchanged from 2024Q4.

The homeownership rate stood at 65.1% in Q1. This is not statistically different from 65.6% in 2024Q1 but is lower than the 65.7% recorded in 2024Q4.

In Q1, the median asking rent for vacant rental units was $1,468, while the median asking sales price for vacant units listed for sale was $300,600.

Overall, 89.5% of US housing units were occupied in Q1, and 10.5% were vacant. Owner-occupied units made up 58.2% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units accounted for 31.2%.

The vacancy breakdown is as follows:

• Vacant year-round units comprised 8.1% of total housing units, while 2.4% were vacant for seasonal use.
• About 2.4% of units were vacant for rent, 0.6% were vacant for sale only, and 0.6% were rented or sold but not yet occupied.
• Units held off the market represented 4.5% of the housing stock. Of these, 1.4% were for occasional use, 0.8% were temporarily occupied by persons with a usual residence elsewhere (URE), and 2.4% were vacant for other reasons.