U.S. Home Vacancies Up One Percent Since 2006

One percent may not seem like a lot, but considering there were 128.023 million residential units in the U.S. in 2007 per the U.S. Census Bureau, 1 percent of that would be 128,023 units. It is interesting that rental vacancies have risen even more, as this indicates previous homeowners aren't necessarily renting.  

U.S. Rental & Homeowner Vacancies: 1996 to 2011 (in percent)
Source: U.S Census
	Rental Vacancy Rate				Homeowner Vacancy Rate
Year	First Quarter	Second Quarter	Third Quarter	Fourth Quarter	First Quarter	Second Quarter	Third Quarter	Fourth Quarter
2011	9.7				2.6
2010	10.6	10.6	10.3	9.4	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.7
2009	10.1	10.6	11.1	10.7	2.7	2.5	2.6	2.7
2008	10.1	10	9.9	10.1	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.9
2007	10.1	9.5	9.8	9.6	2.8	2.6	2.7	2.8
2006	9.5	9.6	9.9	9.8	2.1	2.2	2.5	2.7
2005	10.1	9.8	9.9	9.6	1.8	1.8	1.9	20
2004	10.4	10.2	10.1	10	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.8
2003	9.4	9.6	9.9	10.2	1.7	1.7	1.9	1.8
2002a	9.1	8.4	9	9.3	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
2002	9.1	8.5	9.1	9.4	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
2001	8.2	8.3	8.4	8.8	1.5	1.8	1.9	1.8
2000	7.9	8	8.2	7.8	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.6
1999	8.2	8.1	8.2	7.9	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.6
1998	7.7	8	8.2	7.8	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.8
1997	7.5	7.9	7.9	7.7	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.7
1996	7.9	7.8	8	7.7	1.6	1.5	1.7	1.7

* 2002a refers to revised numbers that reflect 2000 Census data.

Where did the people living in these places go? The Census statistics state persons per household have declined from 2.63 to 2.57 between 1990 and 2009. Yet household sizes across 7 categories have all increased since 1990 per the same source. The U.S. population has also increased by over 50 million since 1990. 

One possible conclusion to draw from this is that too many houses were built. In 1990 there were 91.9 million homes in the U.S., so 36.123 million homes were presumably built between 1990-2007.