How many homes in the New River Valley are vacant, and for sale? A friend sent me an article from CNBC entitled “Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty” (read the whole article here). The reasons are broad, I’m sure – forced transfers and relocations, and foreclosures, often being the biggest culprits.
But 11%? 1 out of every 10 homes, roughly, will be vacant nationwide?
While I don’t have figures specific to the number of vacant homes versus the total overall housing supply in the New River Valley (which according to back of the napkin math is about 40000 households), I decided to look at the vacancy rate of homes for sale in Blacksburg, Christiansburg & Radford, and have to say I was surprised. I didn’t know what to expect, honestly – several houses I’ve shown recently have been vacant, and one entire day spent with buyers was spent solely in vacant homes. What I found was surprising – according to figures from the NRVMLS, there are 528 homes for sale on Feb 2 2011, and 41% of those (220) are vacant.
Forty one percent. But only 7% (16) of those are foreclosures – although I suspect we’ll see more of those coming on the market in the next 12 months.
Real estate this month will be different from real estate next month – it’s a fluid environment, and it is different everywhere. That’s the reason why I said this. It makes no sense to take a market in one area and say it pertains to another.
It also brings to mind keeping vacant homes secure.
I am looking forward to walking in Christiansburg at the High School on the morning of the 5th, with my metal detector. I just had open heart surgery so the exercise will do me some good. However, if you want to make it more exciting please toss a few coins out in the grass. “THANKS”
You’re right, Carol – I was only looking at homes for sale. I tried to update the post to reflect that!
Nathan makes a good point. Your original calculations would only cover those vacant homes that are listed for sale. The 2010 Census shows 683 vacant homes in Christiansburg alone. Of course, with VT needing 500 places for students, that could work out well for students IF the properties are for rent or sell cheaply enough the parents can afford to buy and then resell.
Now you have to figure out the actual vacancy rate. 🙂
And you just proved I’m an idiot. 🙂
Read the article again. 11% is based on the total number of house in the area. You calculated the number of vacant houses compared to the total number of houses for sale. Big difference.