Jacksonville on America's Emptiest Cities list

[thelakelander]

Vacancy rates in these spots spell lots of empty neighborhoods.

Zack O'Malley Greenburg
02.12.09

Call it a modern-day tale of two cities.

For decades, Las Vegas, ripe with new construction and economic development, burgeoned into a shimmering urban carnival. Detroit, once the fulcrum of American industry, sagged and rusted under its own weight.

Las Vegas edged Detroit for the title of America's most abandoned city. Atlanta came in third, followed by Greensboro, N.C., and Dayton, Ohio. Our rankings, a combination of rental and homeowner vacancy rates for the 75 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, are based on fourth-quarter data released Feb. 3 by the Census Bureau. Each was ranked on rental vacancies and housing vacancies; the final ranking is an average of the two.

Cities like Detroit and Dayton are casualties of America's lengthy industrial decline. Others, like Las Vegas and Orlando, are mostly victims of the recent housing bust. Boston and New York are among the lone bright spots, while Honolulu is the nation's best with a vacancy rate of 5.8% for homes and a scant 0.5% for rentals.

Still, empty neighborhoods are becoming an increasingly daunting problem across the country. The national rental vacancy rate now stands at 10.1%, up from 9.6% a year ago; homeowner vacancy has edged up from 2.8% to 2.9%. Richmond, Va.'s rental vacancy rate of 23.7% is the worst in America, while Orlando's 7.4% rate is lousiest on the homeowner side. Detroit and Las Vegas are among the worst offenders by both measures--the Motor City sports vacancy rates of 19.9% for rentals and 4% for homes; Sin City has rates of 16% and 4.7%, respectively.

"It's a mess," says Vegas developer Laurence Hallier. "Right now, things are just frozen. Everybody's scared."

full article: http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/106587/America's-Emptiest-Cities

---

No. 15 (Tie): Cincinnati, Ohio/Middletown, Ky.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 9.8% (tied, 36th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 4.3% (tied, sixth)
Average Rank: 21st

No. 14: Bakersfield, Calif.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 14.7% (tied, 14th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.1% (tied, 26th)
Average Rank: 20th

No. 13: Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 15.6% (11th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3% (tied, 28th)
Average Rank: 19.5

No. 12: Chicago/Naperville/Joliet, Ill.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 11.8% (22nd)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.7% (14th)
Average Rank: 18th

No. 11: Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Miami Beach, Fla.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 13.1% (20th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.6% (tied, 15th)
Average Rank: 17.5

No. 9 (Tie): Indianapolis, Ind.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 17.1% (sixth)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.2% (tied, 23rd)
Average Rank: 14.5

No. 9 (Tie): Jacksonville, Fla.[/color]
Rental Vacancy Rate: 14.7% (tied, 14th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.6% (tied, 15th)
Average Rank: 14.5

No. 8: Kansas City, Mo./Kansas City, Kan.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 15.2% (12th)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.6% (tied, 15th)
Average Rank: 13.5

No. 7: Orlando, Fla.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 12.3% (21st)
Home Vacancy Rate: 7.3% (first)
Average Rank: 11th

No. 6: Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, Ariz.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 19% (fifth)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.6% (tied, 15th)
Average Rank: 10th

No. 5: Dayton, Ohio
Rental Vacancy Rate: 21.7% (second)
Home Vacancy Rate: 3.6% (tied, 15th)
Average Rank: 8.5

No. 4: Greensboro/High Point, N.C.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 15% (13th)
Home Vacancy Rate: (second)
Average Rank: 7.5

No. 3: Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Marietta, Ga.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 16.1% (eighth)
Home Vacancy Rate: 4.3% (tied, sixth)
Average Rank: Seventh

No. 2: Detroit/Warren/Livonia, Mich.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 19.9% (third)
Home Vacancy Rate: 4% (tied, 10th)
Average Rank: 6.5

No. 1: Las Vegas/Paradise, Nev.
Rental Vacancy Rate: 16% (ninth)
Home Vacancy Rate: 4.7% (tied, third)
Average Rank: Sixth

[billy]

Excuse me while I throw up.

[tufsu1]

Its not just a Jax thing.....every major metro in Florida is on the list

[thelakelander]

Yeah, the Orlando home vacancy rate is shocking.

[ProjectMaximus]

Yeah...not sure what to make of this. Some seemingly very healthy cities are in the top 15. Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago...even #1 Vegas appears to be growing rapidly.

[David]

Hey, look on the bright side. It's good news for us renters.

I foresee an apartment upgrade in the near future.

[Jason]

What I don't understand is how the rental rates are as bad as they are.  Aren't all the people that had to leave their home because of foreclosure now renters?  Sounds like the rental rates should be lower than they are.

[civil42806]

Also keep in mind that this doesn't describe what price level the vacant apartments are.  When I moved out to the Gulfport/Biloxi area, a year after katrina, the renting options were very limited.  If you were willing to pay 1000 plus you had options, if you were looking for a reasonable priced place, couldn't find it.  So ended up renting a room in a private home.  Suspect thats happening around the country as well.  Will be interesting if the rental prices at the upper end start dropping.

[heights unknown]

So is all of Florida's major cities, so what else is new?  This empty apartments/houses issue is like catching a cold; it is happening in all of America's major cities.

Heights Unknown

[jeh1980]

I'm surprised that ATL is on that list!

[JeffreyS]

Places that boomed with real estate seem to be well represented on this list.