That's a bad indicator for whether there is a "shortage" or not. You need a sufficiently high vacancy rate to be able to have a dynamic marketplace: if all hou

That's a bad indicator for whether there is a "shortage" or not. You need a sufficiently high vacancy rate to be able to have a dynamic marketplace: if all houses were occupied then moving then moving houses would involve swapping houses with someone (or having a short-term stay... which means not all houses were occupied). We live in a spectrum, the higher a vacancy rate the easier it is to find a house that meets your needs. It really is not surprising that as vacancy rates go up prices go down [0] [0] https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/S-F-renters-gain-rare-leverage-in-pandemic-with-15754770.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/S-F-renters-gain...