Housing Vacancy Improving

The housing market is improving, according to vacancy figures released today by the government. Forget “bank-owned” and what Realtors call “inventory.” The best way to look at the housing market is to see how many housing units are empty.

The “owned” category (most single family homes and condos) has been close to normal for some time, though there’s certainly room for a couple more tenths of a percent decline.

The rental category took a big drop, which is positive for the housing industry, even if negative for home-hunters.

Both categories are important, as there is some mixing of people between the two categories.

Keep in mind that these are national averages; some local markets look very different. In addition, an excess supply of housing in Michigan does little to help fast-growing Sunbelt states.

Looking forward, I expect fairly good growth. In fact, we could have 20 percent stronger housing construction without overbuilding.

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About Bill Conerly 34 Articles

Affiliation: Cascade Policy Institute

Dr. Bill Conerly is the consultant who connects the dots between the economy and business decisions. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University and was formerly Senior Vice President at First Interstate Bank.

Dr. Conerly is author of Businomics: From the Headlines to Your Bottomline—How to Profit in Any Economic Cycle (http://www.businomics.com), which provides business leaders with a framework for understanding current economic news. He is co-author of Thinking Economics, a multi-media high school economics curriculum used in 24 states.

Dr. Conerly has been interviewed on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, CNN and local television and radio stations across the country. He has been quoted in ...More the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and USA Today.

Dr. Conerly is chairman of the board of Cascade Policy Institute, a member of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Council of Economic Advisors, and a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

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