Feb 15, 2024 - News
Chart du jour: Seattle-area home vacancies
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Just 0.5% of homes in the Seattle metro area were vacant and for sale at the end of 2023, per the latest quarterly census data.
Why it matters: The percentage of homes that are vacant is one way to gauge the tightness of a housing market.
What's happening: Seattle's vacancy rate is even tighter than the national rate, which was 0.9% in the fourth quarter (near the lowest on record).
By the numbers: As recently as the end of 2022, just over 1% of homes in the Seattle area were vacant and on the market.
- In 2005, it was 1.6% — three times higher than the latest figure.
The big picture: Low inventory is enticing U.S. homebuilders to ramp up new construction.
- Experts say the nation needs to build a mix of housing, and more of it, to overcome a major home shortage.
Go deeper: Why new home sales soared and existing homes plunged in 2023