The U.S. Census Bureau tracks quarterly vacancy and home ownership rates.
They have data going back to 2005 for each quarter.
Here is a table with the data for the 75 largest metro areas during the third quarter of 2011:
| Metro Area | % vacant |
| Akron, OH | 8.3 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY . | 4.5 |
| Alburquerque, NM. | 4.3 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 5.8 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 9.4 |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 6.1 |
| Bakersfield, CA | 3.7 |
| Baltimore-Towson, MD | 12.1 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 7.9 |
| Birmingham-Hoover, AL | 8.7 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | 7.1 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT. | 7.1 |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Tonawanda, NY | 10.9 |
| Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC | 14.6 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL | 10.2 |
| Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN | 11.2 |
| Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH/4 | 11.4 |
| Columbia, SC | 6.9 |
| Columbus, OH | 8.6 |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX | 11.9 |
| Dayton, OH. | 12.8 |
| Denver-Aurora, CO | 8.5 |
| Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI | 14.9 |
| El Paso, TX | 3.3 |
| Fresno, CA | 7.6 |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 5.9 |
| Greensboro-High Point, NC | 16.3 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 8.6 |
| Honolulu, HI | 6.1 |
| Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX | 17.1 |
| Indianapolis, IN. | 14.5 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 12.1 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS. | 15.2 |
| Las Vegas-Paradise, NV | 13.2 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA | 5.0 |
| Louisville, KY-IN | 12.6 |
| Memphis, TN-AR-MS. | 14.8 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL | 13.6 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 9.8 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 8.0 |
| Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN | 12.2 |
| New Haven-Milford, CT | 13.3 |
| New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA | 12.3 |
| New York-Northern New Jersey--Long Island, NY | 7.2 |
| Oklahoma City, OK. | 9.7 |
| Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 7.9 |
| Orlando, FL | 16.6 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 3.0 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA . | 13.7 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 10.4 |
| Pittsburgh, PA. | 7.4 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA | 3.1 |
| Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NJ. | 17.0 |
| Providence-New Bedford-Fall River RI-MA | 8.8 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | 6.5 |
| Richmond, VA | 11.9 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 9.7 |
| Rochester, NY. | 8.4 |
| Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA | 7.6 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 10.5 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 8.5 |
| San Antonio, TX | 6.5 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos | 8.5 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 8.5 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 4.6 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 6.8 |
| Springfield, MA. | 2.6 |
| Syracuse, NY | 8.7 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 13.6 |
| Toledo, OH | 14.8 |
| Tucson, AZ | 17.0 |
| Tulsa, OK | 13.3 |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA | 9.7 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 8.3 |
| Worcester, MA. | 2.8 |
As you can see there is a pretty wide range in the vacancy rates. The median for the cities given is 8.7%. The high in the list is 17.1% in the Houston area and the low is 2.6% in Springfield, Mass.
This is current as of the third quarter of 2011. The vacancy rate for a metro area will go up and down from quarter to quarter.
Lets take a look at a single city over time. Below is the quarterly vacancy rate for Akron, Ohio going back to 2005.
The vacancy rate in Akron swings up and down a few percent points most quarters. It seems like there is something of an annual seasonal cycle with a peak in vacancy rates in the first quarter of the year.
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