The rental vacancy rates in the Midwest showcase a promising trend for property investors and landlords in St. Louis. The reduction in vacancies not only indicates a growing demand for rental properties but also reflects the region’s economic resilience and appeal. With the South experiencing a significant increase in vacancy rates, the Midwest’s decline underscores the region’s stability and attractiveness to potential renters. This trend is encouraging for those in the real estate market, signaling a thriving rental environment in St. Louis.
Midwest Region Rental Vacancy Rate
Q2 2024 vs Q2 2023
The latest residential vacancy rate data from the U.S. Census Bureau for the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) shows that the rental vacancy rate for 2023 was an average of 7.73% and increase of over a percentage point from the previous year. As the chart below illustrates, the average St Louis rental vacancy rate for 2023 was the highest in four years.
St Louis MSA Rental Vacancy Rate 2015-2023
The St Louis MSA rental vacancy rate during the 1st quarter of 2021 was 6.4%, the highest rate since the 4th quarter of 2019, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. During the 1st quarter of last year, the St Louis rental vacancy rate was 5.5%..
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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates – 2005 – Present
(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)
Zombies are on the rise in St Louis! I’m referring, of course, to Zombie foreclosures and not the spooky creatures from scary movies. A zombie foreclosure is a property that is in “pre-foreclosure” meaning it is in the foreclosure process but has not been yet foreclosed upon and is vacant or abandoned by the current owner. We saw the levels of zombie foreclosures rise significantly after the housing bubble burst back in 2008 but then fall around 2012 as the market began its recovery. For the 3rd quarter of 2020, according to ATTOM Data Research, 10.8% of the homes in pre-foreclosure were vacant or otherwise known as “zombies foreclosures”. This is a fairly significant increase in the zombie rate from the prior quarter when 7.79% of the pre-foreclosures were vacant. A year ago, during the 3rd quarter of 2010, the zombie foreclosure rate was 7.77%.
St Louis vacant property rate rises during 3rd quarter as well..
As the table below also illustrates, 2.95% of the more than 1,000,000 residential properties in the St Louis MSA were vacant during the 3rd quarter of 2020 which is an increase from 2.88% for the 2nd quarter of 2020 as well as an increase from a year ago when the vacancy rate was 2.86%.
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St Louis Area Vacant Homes and Zombie Foreclosures
The St Louis MSA rental vacancy rate during the 2nd quarter of 2020 was 4.4%, the lowest rate in over 15 years, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. During the 2nd quarter of last year, the St Louis rental vacancy rate was 7.6%..
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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates – 2005 – Present
(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)”
Of the 4,531 residential properties located within the 63113 zip code in the City of St Louis, over 18 percent of them are vacant (824), according to a report just released today by Attom Data Solutions. As the table below shows, six of the ten zip codes in the St Louis MSA with the highest rate of vacant property are located within the City of St Louis and the remaining 4 in St Louis County.
Nine of the 10 zip codes with the highest rate of vacancy have double-digit vacancy rates. Franklin County has the most zip codes with no vacancies at 5, followed by St Charles County with 4.
Continue reading “Nearly One In Five Properties In 63113 Are Vacant“
The St Louis MSA homeowner vacancy rate during the 3rd quarter of this year was 1.8%, an increase from 0.3% the prior quarter and the highest rate since the 4th quarter of 2016 when the rate was 3.0%, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The median vacancy rate for 2019 though, at 0.5%, is still at a record low.
The homeowner vacancy rate represents the percentage of total listings of homes for sale that are vacant.
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St Louis Homeowner Vacancy Rates – 2016 – Present
(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)
The St Louis MSA rental vacancy rate during the 3rd quarter of this year was 10.6%, an increase from 7.6% the prior quarter and the highest rate since the 1st quarter of 2016 when the rate was 12.2%, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, the median rental vacancy rate for the St Louis MSA for the year was 6.8%, a 13 year low.
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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates – 2016 – Present
(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)
There are 100,478 residential properties in the City of St Louis, 7,604 of which (7.6%), are vacant properties according to the vacancy rate report for the 3rd quarter of 2019 by ATTOM Data Research. The other St Louis area county with a vacancy rate higher than the rate for the St Louis MSA as a whole of 2.9% is St Louis County where 3.1% of the residential properties are vacant.
St Louis MSA Vacant Property And Investor Owned Property Q3 2019
There are 64,645 residential properties in Franklin County, 32,625 of which (50.5%), are investment properties according to the vacancy rate report for the 3rd quarter of 2019 by ATTOM Data Research. The other St Louis area county with a percentage of investment properties higher than the rate for the St Louis MSA as a whole of 23.8% is the city of St Louis where 41.5% of the residential properties are investor-owned.
St Louis MSA Vacant Property And Investor Owned Property Q3 2019
The St Louis MSA rental vacancy rate during the 1st quarter of this year was 8.1%, an increase from 6.6% the prior quarter, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Given that for 2018 the median rental vacancy rate of 6.8% in the St Louis MSA was a 13 year low, it’s not surprising we may see an uptick in vacancies.
As the table below shows, the rental vacancy rate for the St Louis MSA for the first quarter of 2018 was 9.6% and then fell to 5.6% during the 2nd quarter so perhaps we’ll see a repeat of that this year as well but time will tell.
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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates – 2016 – Present
(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)
The median rental vacancy rate for the St Louis metro area during 2018 was 6.8%, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This rate marks the lowest annual median rental vacancy rate for St Louis since the U.S. Census Bureau’s reports which began in 2005.
As the table below shows, the vacancy rate for the 4th quarter of 2018 was 6.6%, down from 6.9% the quarter before and down from 9.2% a year ago.
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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates
The vacancy rate for rentals in St Louis during the third quarter of this year was 9.8%, significantly lower than the median vacancy rate of 11.5% for that quarter since 2004. The year to date median vacancy rate for 2017, through the first 3 quarters, is 8.1% which is tied with last years rate, the lowest in more than a decade. So it’s a good time to be a landlord in St Louis!
Rental Vacancy Rates In The St Louis Metro Area – 2015 – 2017
(click table below for complete data going back to 2005 as well as rental rates)
Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau – Copyright 2017 – St Louis Real Estate News – All Rights Reserved[/caption]
The rental vacancy rate in the St Louis MSA the U.S. during the third quarter of this year rose to 9.5 percent from 5.5 percent the prior quarter, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is worth noting though that the 5.5 percent vacancy rate seen during 2nd quarter was, as the historical table below shows, the lowest quarterly vacancy rate for the St Louis MSA in well over a decade and 9.5 percent for the 3rd quarter of 2016 is still much lower than the 13.9 percent vacancy rate we saw for St Louis during the 3rd quarter of last year.
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Continue reading “St Louis Rental Vacancy Rate Rises In 3rd Quarter But Still Down From A Year Ago“
According to a report just released this morning by RealtyTrac, 6,809, of the 103,855 residential properties in the city of St Louis, are vacant. This vacant property rate of 6.6 percent for the City of St Louis is over four times higher than the national rate of 1.6 percent. As the table below shows, the vacant property rate for the St Louis MSA as a whole is 2.6 percent and St Louis County has the second highest vacancy rate, coming in a 2.6 percent. St Charles County has the lowest vacancy rate at 0.4 percent.
“Abandoned ship” properties…
I’m applying the label of “abandoned ship properties” to those properties that are sinking, or seriously underwater with regard to equity, otherwise known as being in a negative-equity position, and are vacant as well. In this category, are 1,390 properties in St Louis county or, nearly 15 percent (14.8%) of all of the vacant properties in the county. For the MSA as a whole, 9.7% of all vacant properties are “abandoned shop” properties.
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St Louis Market Data (Home Prices, Sales, Trends and MORE) By City, Zip or County
Continue reading “City of St Louis Property Vacancy Rate Over Four Times Higher Then National Rate“
The rental vacancy rate in the U.S. during the second quarter of this year was 6.8 percent, the lowest level in over 10 years, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This was a decline of over 9 percent (9.33%) from the 2nd quarter of 2014 when the rental vacancy rate was 7.5% and is the lowest level the rental vacancy rate has been at in over 10 years.
As the chart and table below shows, the U.S. homeowner vacancy rate also declined during the 2nd quarter of this year to 1.8 percent which ties the lowest level the homeowner vacancy rate has been at in over 10 years as well.
St Louis Rental Vacancy Rate Increases During 2nd Quarter-
As the table below shows, rental vacancies in St Louis increased slightly during 2nd quarter rising to 8.7 percent from 8.6 percent the previous quarter.
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Continue reading “Rental Vacancy Rate In U.S. During 2nd Quarter Hits Lowest Level In Over 10 Years“
St Louis Rental Vacancies remain at historically low levels in spite of a slight increase in the first quarter of this year to 8.6% from 8.5% in the 4th quarter of 2014. The St Louis vacancy rate for first quarter of 2015 was also up significantly from the first quarter of 2014 when the vacancy rate for St Louis stood at just 7.2% although, as the table below shows, we have to remember that was the lowest vacancy rate we had seen in over 10 years.
On a national level, the rental vacancy rate has declined as well, down to 7.1% for the 1st quarter of 2015, down from 8.3% for the 1st quarter of 2014. As the chart below illustrates, all four regions in the U.S. have seen a decline in rental vacancy rates from the 1st quarter of 2014 to the same quarter in 2015. This, coupled with the facts that St Louis has a higher vacancy rate for 1st quarter 2015 than that of the region, as well as has seen an increase in rate from a year ago while the region saw a decline, may be a warning sign that the St Louis market, while performing well, is not keeping up with the region and the nation.
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Continue reading “St Louis Rental Vacancies Increase In First Quarter – Still 3rd Lowest Level In 6 Years“
The rental vacancy rate in the U.S. was at 7.5% for the 2nd quarter of 2014, down from 8.3% the quarter before and at the lowest level in 20 years, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. rental vacancy rate has not been this low since the 4th quarter of 1994 when the rate was 7.4%.
Here in the Midwest region of the U.S., the rental vacancy rate was 7.5% during the 2nd quarter of 2014, the lowest rate in 16 years! The last time the Midwest Region of the U.S. saw rental vacancy rates as low as this was back in the 2nd quarter of 1998 when the vacancy rate fell to 7.3%.
Perhaps it’s time to expand your rental portfolio or, begin building your portfolio?
I’ll begin with a disclaimer. I realize this is a VERY subjective topic and there are about a hundred different criteria one may use to determine the best area to invest in rental property however, having said that, I attempted to do a broad brush analysis from 30,000 feet. I decided to look at which area, in general, offers the best return on investment when it comes to rental property. For the sake of my analysis, I looked at single family homes as rental properties since they are the most common investment by individual investors.
To determine the best rate of return I looked at the median rent for the area as well as median vacancy rate of rentals and median home price. I then determined a rent/value ratio and the area with the highest ratio determines the area with the best potential return on investment. In computing the ratio I multiplied the median rent by 12 to get the annual rate, then reduced that amount by the vacancy rate and divided the result into the median property value.
As the table below shows, the city of St Louis came out on top with the highest rent to value ratio, 6.48% followed by St Louis County with a 5.45%.
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The St Louis homeowner vacancy rate was 3.5 percent in 2013, an increase of almost 13 percent from the year before and the highest rate in over 8 years, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The homeowner vacancy rate represents the percentage of homes, that are normally occupied year-round, that are currently vacant and for sale without a pending contract. The interesting thing about this is the inventory of homes for sale in St Louis has been steadily declining so the fact that the vacancy rate is increasing indicates there are a growing number of vacant homes for sale.
The St Louis rental vacancy rate for the 4th quarter of 2013 was 10.1 percent, the lowest rate since the 3rd quarter of 2012 when the rate was 8.2 percent, according to the latest dates just released by the Census Bureau.
See the table below for quarterly vacancy rates from 2010 through 2013.
The St Louis rental vacancy rate dropped to the lowest level of 2013 in the 3rd quarter coming in at 13.1 percent for the St. Louis metro area, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau. This year started off with a vacancy rate of 15.6 percent for the first quarter, the same rate 2012 started out with as well, however, in 2012 the vacancy rate fell to just 8.2 percent during the 3rd quarter. Due to holidays and weather, the 4th quarter usually sees a significant increase in vacancy rates from the 3rd quarter so we could easily see the highest vacancy rates next quarter we have seen in years if the trend continues.
See the table below for quarterly vacancy rates from 2011 through 2013.
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420
“The (real estate) recovery has been much more like the tortoise than the hare,” said Stephen Blank, a senior resident fellow of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. “We’ve become used to slow relief. But we have finally turned the corner.”
Real estate markets on both coasts in places like; New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the first to emerge from recession and will pick up their pace of recovery through 2013, said Blank, a principal researcher for Emerging Trends. He was the main speaker at the annual outlook presented by ULI’s St. Louis chapter.
Big investors scared away by the high prices in coastal cities will look more closely at properties in secondary markets, including St. Louis, experts predict. David Griege, executive vice president at Paramount Mortgage, believes home sales will be much stronger this spring and summer than in past years. Continue reading “Real Estate Recovery "On Its Way"“
Lately we have seen several reports on the housing market that show the housing market is improving and may even be headed toward a recovery however some experts, including Cliff Rossi, Tyser Teaching Fellow and executive-in-residence for the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, say it may be premature to call this a “real recovery.” Rossi is not entirely negative on the housing market and does admit that home prices are stabilizing and inventories are declining, however he has concerns as a result of the “fiscal cliff”, regulatory reform and tightness of credit. Continue reading “Is it premature to say the housing market is in recovery?“
I continue to see encouraging news about the housing market and today was no exception. The Freddie Mac housing market outlook for December was released and included a very encouraging outlook for the real estate market in 2013 by its chief economist, Frank Nothaft. Not that I’m on the same level as Northaft, but I will be coming out later this month with a short market recap video for 2012 as well as an outlook for 2013, both specifically for the St Louis real estate market. In the meantime, below are the highlights from Mr Nothaft’s projections for the U.S. real estate market for 2013.
Continue reading “2013 looks to be a good year for real estate“
Yesterday, statistician’s from the U.S. Census Bureau gave a briefing on highlights of the housing characteristics data contained in the 2010 Census. Several interesting facts came out, but the one that I found most interesting was that the data shows the U.S., at 65.1 percent, has the second highest homeownership rate on record for the period (see chart below). It’s not that all the recent talk about the decline in homeownership was unfounded however as the census data did show that the drop in the rate of homeownership during this last census period (2000-2010) of 1.1 percent is the largest decrease since the period from 1930-1940. Continue reading “2010 Census Data Shows Second Hightest Homeownership Rate on Record Despite Largest Decrease since 1940“
Fannie Mae’s Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group says that we are not out of the woods yet and that the economy is “flirting with another economic downturn” now after more than two years since the worst recession since the World War II era. Fannie Mae Chief Economist, Doug Duncan, said “the weakening economic backdrop, a persistently high unemployment rate, and fear of a double-dip recession are casting a shadow over the housing market.” Continue reading “Double-dip recession concern by consumers is putting a damper on the housing market“
Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth A. Duke, while speaking at the Federal Reserve Board Policy Forum last week, discussed the effect on the housing market that properties acquired by banks and lenders through foreclosure (REO’s) and suggested that if some of this inventory was converted to rental property by the lenders, this may have a positive effect on the housing market. Continue reading “Converting REO’s to rentals could help housing recovery according to Fed Official“
It seems every time I start thinking it’s safe to use the “R” word (recovery) about the housing market, something happens to put the damper on it. The recent downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, which ultimately caused the Wall Street roller coaster ride, certainly hasn’t help. Then today, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) came out with a report saying “the recent economic news points to a slower housing recovery” and Fannie Mae, in their economic forecast released today saying “housing activity expected to weaken, despite recent declines in long-term interest rates”. Continue reading “New reports paint bleak picture for housing market recovery“
Last week I got to hear a presentation by Brendan Lowney of Economic Advisors, aptly titled “Groping Toward a Housing Recovery“, which I think is a perfect way of describing our current housing market, so perfect, I borrowed it for the title of this article. Mr. Lowney began his presentation with a very sobering statement, saying “it’s really hard to overestimate the severity of the downturn that we’re in. This is much worse than anything we saw in the ’70s or the early
’80s, if people remember, and it’s really akin in many ways to the Great Depression, and within the housing sector, it’s a very good analogy.” Continue reading “Groping Toward a Housing Recovery“
