One In Nine Houses Are Empty In The U.S.

Thanks to an unregulated economy and a housing boom that kept the system going for the last decade, the effects of that irresponsible growth are being felt throughout the country. GDP is down, jobs are being lost, businesses are going under and the houses that were built by the tens of thousands are being left empty. In fact, out of all houses in the country, one in nine are now vacant.

From USAToday:

Census numbers show:

• More than 14 million housing units are vacant. That number does not include an estimated 4.8 million seasonal or vacation homes, most of which are occupied part of the year. The combined vacancy rate of almost 15% is higher than during previous recessions: 11% in 1991 and 9.4% in 1984.

• About 3% of owned homes are vacant. In normal times, "maybe 1% should be vacant," Myers says.

• More than 9% of homes built since 2000 are vacant compared with about 2% for older homes.

• Homes priced at $500,000 or more are just as likely to be empty as homes that cost less than $100,000.

The numbers show that like jobs reports, the economic situation is much more precarious than in prior recessions. The vacancies show that an incredible amount of people are losing their homes in this recession. The statistics on what happens after a home goes vacant is murky though because it is hard to tell how many people go homeless and what category of homelessness they fit into. The USA Today article seemed to be worried about the security situation squatters brings, but the question of if the squatters were the former owners was not brought up. What we need to be concerned with are the people who no longer have a place to live and not so much the value of the neighborhood.