Vacancy Rates for Rental Housing Highest Since ‘96

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–National vacancy rates for rental housing in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 percent, a 0.4 percent gain from the previous quarter, according to the latest report by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The Census Bureau found that the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent).For rental housing by area, the second quarter 2009 vacancy rate in principal cities (11.2 percent) was higher than in the suburbs where it was 10.0 percent, but not statistically different from outside Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s), 10.3 percent.  The rental vacancy rates inside principal cities and in the suburbs were higher than the corresponding rates one year ago, while the rate outside MSA’s showed no statistical change from the second quarter 2008 rate.