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> looked at census data on the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas and found there are 5.47 million vacant housing units, with an average vacancy rate of 7.2

> looked at census data on the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas and found there are 5.47 million vacant housing units, with an average vacancy rate of 7.22 percent. This feels sensational. Imagine a common scenario: a unit is rented for 2 years (24 months), and then is vacant for 1 month while the owner repaints, performs maintenance, and relists the property for rental. That is 1/(24+1) = 4% vacancy. Given you can easily get to 4% vacancy with simple turnover, you can see why very low vacancy rates are bad for renters: they indicate it is extremely competitive to find housing. You can see this anecdotally in extremely tight housing markets like NYC where renters looking for apartments often report they need to move extremely quickly to secure rentals and some people even ofter to pay more than the listing price for desirable apartments.

Retric 3y ago
That example hit 4%, but that’s a long way from 7.22 percent. It’s common for rental properties to be occupied by the same tenants for 10 years or longer, 7.22% of that is 8.7+ months which suggests the 7.22% is further concentrated around shorter rental periods. It’s the same deal with unemployment, 7% is much worse than 4% even though the numbers aren’t that far apart because it’s a composite of a baseline and issues.
- User23 3y ago
  Common, really? Have you got any kind of figures to back that up? Because anecdotally speaking neither I nor anyone known to me has ever rented for anywhere near ten years. I always get curious when claimed statistics greatly disagree with my experience.
  - woleium 3y ago
    I believe it varies significantly by demographic (older renters move less frequently)
  - Retric 3y ago
    Nationally yea, rent control is one reason. NYC has people living in the same apartments for 30+ years. Subsidized housing is another, the waiting list can be years long and people then generally stay until they are kicked out. It’s also age related, retired people have fewer reasons to move and families are harder to relocate. Further looking at individuals you don’t yet know how long they are going to be in that location. PS: 5.5% of renters have lived in their home for more than 20 years. Average is 3 years nationally at 7.22% that’s ~2.6 months between occupancy which seems long IMO.
  - 2devnull 3y ago
    Very common in California where rent is outrageous and rent control strongly disincentivizes moving.
    - dv_dt 3y ago
      Rent control in California isn't particularly protective of spiraling rents. The statewide law applies to 15+ year old units and per year rent increases are limited to 5% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower.
      - Retric 3y ago
        The statewide number is simply a maximum not a statewide standard. In San Francisco, rent in rent-controlled apartments can only be raised by 2.6% per year. Which is far more impactful.
        2devnull 3y ago
        I’d guess that the vast majority of California renters are in big cities, where 3% rent control is typical. You get stuck after a year or two, unable to move without leaving the state, and landlords exploit this by neglecting repairs (i.e. lead, mold, asbestos). There is a pretty big range of “livable conditions” which I’ve experienced as a renter. So the divide between rich and poor (owner and renter) increases and the only socially acceptable solution it seems is yimbism, which seems to mean “increase the number of landlords until the problem disappears.” Or outright communism, where the state is the landlord, which has a history of failure.
        Retric 3y ago
        The US has major issues with the state as landlord but other counties pull it off fairly well. That suggests me it’s the US that has the problem not the approach of having the government involved that’s at issue. The US seems to default to doing the worst possible solution. Take long term rent control and private ownership, because like seriously WTF??? That’s literally combining the worst aspects of communism and capitalism.
  - Brian_K_White 3y ago
    And yet here I sit in a rental since 2005, and in software and IT the whole time. You just didn't happen to know me. Your individual experience means essentially nothing, and I frankly disbelieve you don't even know anyone who has not or will not eventually have rented for 10 years, since they are everywhere.
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  I know a lot of people on the east coast who end up moving every ~2 years between rentals.
  - giraffe_lady 3y ago
    Professionals? Who move around based on changing income, family size, and neighborhood dynamics? Sure. I know a lot of working class people who live in the same neighborhood they grew up in and have rented the whole time. Just depends on who you know a lot of I think.
  - Retric 3y ago
    5.5% of renters have lived in their home for more than 20 years. https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renting-statistics https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renting-statistics The average renter stays for three years in a single-family home. Which means the vacancy between occupants averages 2.6 months or so. https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/rental-statistics/ https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/rental-statistic... You tend to know people like yourself. Young professionals move quiet frequently. Do you know anyone in a rent controlled or subsidized apartment? How many retired couples do you permit know? What about school teachers or police officers etc? Also, looking at people who can’t tell if someone is 2 days into a 15 year stay which makes it easy to overestimate how mobile people are. You really need to look at things from the perspective of move out dates not how long people have been in their current apartment.
  - quantified 3y ago
    For how many years of their life, how many 2-year cycles? You can switch jobs every 2 years for a 30-year career, but having a family slows things down, usually.
  - squeaky-clean 3y ago
    I've moved 3 times in 7 years. But never has my old landlord or new landlord taken a month to repaint things. It's always been re-rented in under 2 weeks. This is all in NYC though, so things might be a bit different here.
generaljargon 3y ago
I believe they accounted for this in the lending tree article. Looks like the main cause is units for rent at 26%, and units undergoing repair are at 6%. I’ll say from personal experience it is somewhat rare to have this one month gap period between renters. I tend to see the super (manager) paint the unit in 1-2 days or even overnight. Then repairs can happen as the tenant reports them while living in the unit, barring any severe damage.

Retric 3y ago

That example hit 4%, but that’s a long way from 7.22 percent. It’s common for rental properties to be occupied by the same tenants for 10 years or longer, 7.22% of that is 8.7+ months which suggests the 7.22% is further concentrated around shorter rental periods. It’s the same deal with unemployment, 7% is much worse than 4% even though the numbers aren’t that far apart because it’s a composite of a baseline and issues.

User23 3y ago
Common, really? Have you got any kind of figures to back that up? Because anecdotally speaking neither I nor anyone known to me has ever rented for anywhere near ten years. I always get curious when claimed statistics greatly disagree with my experience.
- woleium 3y ago
  I believe it varies significantly by demographic (older renters move less frequently)
- Retric 3y ago
  Nationally yea, rent control is one reason. NYC has people living in the same apartments for 30+ years. Subsidized housing is another, the waiting list can be years long and people then generally stay until they are kicked out. It’s also age related, retired people have fewer reasons to move and families are harder to relocate. Further looking at individuals you don’t yet know how long they are going to be in that location. PS: 5.5% of renters have lived in their home for more than 20 years. Average is 3 years nationally at 7.22% that’s ~2.6 months between occupancy which seems long IMO.
- 2devnull 3y ago
  Very common in California where rent is outrageous and rent control strongly disincentivizes moving.
  - dv_dt 3y ago
    Rent control in California isn't particularly protective of spiraling rents. The statewide law applies to 15+ year old units and per year rent increases are limited to 5% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower.
    - Retric 3y ago
      The statewide number is simply a maximum not a statewide standard. In San Francisco, rent in rent-controlled apartments can only be raised by 2.6% per year. Which is far more impactful.
      - 2devnull 3y ago
        I’d guess that the vast majority of California renters are in big cities, where 3% rent control is typical. You get stuck after a year or two, unable to move without leaving the state, and landlords exploit this by neglecting repairs (i.e. lead, mold, asbestos). There is a pretty big range of “livable conditions” which I’ve experienced as a renter. So the divide between rich and poor (owner and renter) increases and the only socially acceptable solution it seems is yimbism, which seems to mean “increase the number of landlords until the problem disappears.” Or outright communism, where the state is the landlord, which has a history of failure.
        Retric 3y ago
        The US has major issues with the state as landlord but other counties pull it off fairly well. That suggests me it’s the US that has the problem not the approach of having the government involved that’s at issue. The US seems to default to doing the worst possible solution. Take long term rent control and private ownership, because like seriously WTF??? That’s literally combining the worst aspects of communism and capitalism.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  And yet here I sit in a rental since 2005, and in software and IT the whole time. You just didn't happen to know me. Your individual experience means essentially nothing, and I frankly disbelieve you don't even know anyone who has not or will not eventually have rented for 10 years, since they are everywhere.
datadrivenangel 3y ago
I know a lot of people on the east coast who end up moving every ~2 years between rentals.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  Professionals? Who move around based on changing income, family size, and neighborhood dynamics? Sure. I know a lot of working class people who live in the same neighborhood they grew up in and have rented the whole time. Just depends on who you know a lot of I think.
- Retric 3y ago
  5.5% of renters have lived in their home for more than 20 years. https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renting-statistics https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renting-statistics The average renter stays for three years in a single-family home. Which means the vacancy between occupants averages 2.6 months or so. https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/rental-statistics/ https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/rental-statistic... You tend to know people like yourself. Young professionals move quiet frequently. Do you know anyone in a rent controlled or subsidized apartment? How many retired couples do you permit know? What about school teachers or police officers etc? Also, looking at people who can’t tell if someone is 2 days into a 15 year stay which makes it easy to overestimate how mobile people are. You really need to look at things from the perspective of move out dates not how long people have been in their current apartment.
- quantified 3y ago
  For how many years of their life, how many 2-year cycles? You can switch jobs every 2 years for a 30-year career, but having a family slows things down, usually.
- squeaky-clean 3y ago
  I've moved 3 times in 7 years. But never has my old landlord or new landlord taken a month to repaint things. It's always been re-rented in under 2 weeks. This is all in NYC though, so things might be a bit different here.

generaljargon 3y ago

I believe they accounted for this in the lending tree article. Looks like the main cause is units for rent at 26%, and units undergoing repair are at 6%. I’ll say from personal experience it is somewhat rare to have this one month gap period between renters. I tend to see the super (manager) paint the unit in 1-2 days or even overnight. Then repairs can happen as the tenant reports them while living in the unit, barring any severe damage.