US Rental Vacancy Rate Rose to 7.6% in the Third Quarter: Homeownership Held at 65.5%
The U.S. Census Bureau reported on October 28, in its Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership release for the third quarter of 2026 (Release Number CB26-161), that the national rental vacancy rate was 7.6 percent, higher than 7.1 percent in the third quarter of 2025 and higher than 7.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2 percent, virtually the same as in both comparison periods.
The homeownership rate was 65.5 percent in the third quarter. The Census Bureau said that figure was not statistically different from 65.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025 or from 65.0 percent in the second quarter of 2026. The data come from the Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS), are not adjusted for seasonality, and all comparative statements underwent statistical testing at the 90 percent significance level.
By area, the rental vacancy rate was highest in principal cities at 8.8 percent, compared with 6.5 percent in suburbs and 6.4 percent outside metropolitan statistical areas; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4 percent in principal cities and 1.1 percent in suburbs. Among the four regions, the South posted the highest rental vacancy rate at 9.2 percent and the highest homeowner vacancy rate at 1.5 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 6.2 percent in the Northeast, 7.1 percent in the Midwest and 6.7 percent in the West.
On prices, the median asking rent for vacant for-rent units was $1,541 in the third quarter, and the median asking sales price for vacant for-sale units was $353,600.
The total housing inventory stood at about 149.8 million units, of which 89.4 percent were occupied and 10.6 percent vacant; owner-occupied units made up 58.6 percent of the total and renter-occupied units 30.9 percent. The Census Bureau said the next quarterly release is scheduled for February 2, 2027.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国人口普查局位于马里兰州 Suitland 的总部大楼（资料图）。美国人口普查局发布，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The U.S. Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Maryland (file photo). Photo by the U.S. Census Bureau, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
