All glossary terms

Vacancy Rate

Definition

The vacancy rate is the percentage of housing units in an area that are unoccupied, whether for sale, for rent, seasonal, or otherwise vacant. It is a Census-derived measure of slack in the local housing supply.

Formula

Vacant units / total housing units × 100

How to interpret it

Very low vacancy signals tight supply and upward pressure on prices and rents; elevated vacancy can indicate weak demand or an abundance of seasonal or investor-held property. Context matters — vacation-heavy areas naturally run high vacancy without implying a weak market.

See vacancy rate for any state, metro, county, or ZIP code in the Reatlas Market Explorer.

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Related terms

Source: Reatlas analysis of U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS), Realtor.com, and Zillow market data.