Home Vacancies Set Record

Wall Street Journal (04/29/08) P. D6; Nutting, Rex
New Census Bureau data shows that the nation's homeowner vacancy rate climbed to a record 2.9 percent in the first quarter from 2.8 percent in last year's fourth quarter--further proof that the oversupply of homes on the market is not improving. From 1995 until 2005's fourth quarter, the rate held steady between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. About 2.2 million vacant homes were on the selling block in this year's first quarter, nearly 1 million more than was typical before the housing bubble popped. Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at Global Insight, states, "It's the worst piece of housing news that we've heard in the past couple of months. It means home prices will continue to drop at least for the remainder of the year."