Across the nation, the number of vacant housing units, excluding units for seasonal migrant workers, climbed from 6.8 million in 2000 to 10.3 million in 2010, a change of 51.2 percent.
Ohio’s vacancy rate — the amount of vacant property as a percentage of total housing stock — rose 49.8 percent from 2000 to 2010, going from 6.1 percent to 9.1 percent, the GAO said. That’s the 10th highest, but better than the top three: New Hampshire (77.4 percent), Minnesota, (75.8 percent) and Michigan (73 percent).
Ohio ranked in the top 20 states in three other indicators related to vacancies: the 2000-2010 percentage change in the number of vacant residential properties (13th), the unemployment rate (18th) and the percentage of loans in foreclosure (eighth) as of December 2010, according to the GAO report, issued Tuesday.
“The job loss, the foreclosure crisis are compounding on each other,” said local real estate expert Doug Harnish, principal of Market Metrics.
“The market has declined, assuming there is a market. There are homes in many, many cities where you couldn’t sell a house at any price.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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