Photo and Story By Joe Zlomek

More homes are sitting vacant and unsold than ever before, the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week (April 27, 2007). That's bad news for residential real estate sales, because higher vacancy rates often reflect a surplus of available housing that drives prices down.

Residents of Marple Township PA add an enclosed porch to their home during January 2007. Home-ownership rates slipped slightly in the first quarter of this year, the Census Bureau says.

The Census Bureau said the national homeowner vacancy rate for the first quarter of 2007 was 2.8 percent. The rate, which compares the number of unoccupied homes for sale to the total homeowner inventory, was 2.1 percent for the same quarter last year. In addition, the Bureau said the rate had risen for seven consecutive quarters.

Vacancies were highest in the nation's major cities, and lowest in rural areas.

Vacancy rates varied widely between regions of the country, too. During the first quarter of 2007 it was 3.2 percent in the South, 2.9 percent in the Midwest, 2.6 percent in the West, and 1.9 percent in the Northeast. For the same period, the total national housing inventory was reported at 127.27 million units; of those, 17.6 million units were vacant.

As the vacancy rate rose, the nation's home-ownership rate dipped. During the first quarter of 2007 it fell slightly to 68.4 percent, down from 68.5 percent in the same quarter last year. The Bureau reported the home-ownership rate for the first three months of this year was highest in the Midwest, with 72.2 percent, followed by the South, 70.6 percent; the Northeast, 64.8 percent; and the West, 63.6 percent.