The Census Bureau reported the homeownership and vacancy rates for Q1 2009. Here are a few graphs …
Click here for a larger image.
The homeownership rate is back to the level of Q2 2000. So much for the homeownership gains of the last 8+ years. Gone. Rental units are on the rise.
According to the Census Bureau there are close to 40 million rental units in the U.S. If the rental vacancy rate declined from 10.1% to 8%, there would be 2.1% X 40 million units or about 820,000 units absorbed.
This would suggest there are about 820 thousand excess rental units in the U.S.
There are also approximately 100 thousand excess new homes above the normal inventory level (for home builders) – plus some uncounted condos.
If we add this up, 820 thousand excess rental units, 750 thousand excess vacant homes, and 100 thousand excess new home inventory, this gives about 1.7 million excess housing units in the U.S. that need to be absorbed over the next few years. (Note: this data is noisy, so it’s hard to compare numbers quarter to quarter, but this is probably a reasonable approximation).
These excess units will keep pressure on housing starts and prices for some time.
