Homeowner vacancy rate climbs

By Patrick Rucker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The share of homes owned but empty edged back up in the third quarter toward a record set earlier this year, the Census Bureau said on Friday, another sign of weakness in the housing sector.

The homeowner vacancy rate rose to 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent in the second quarter, indicating a large share of the nation's homes are on the market but not selling, said Dean Baker, a director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

"There are a lot of vacant homes out there and a lot of pressure on many homeowners to sell," he said.

The vacancy rate had been steadily climbing since the fourth quarter of 2004 when it was 1.8 percent and hit a record 2.8 percent at the end of the March. The figure took a dip to 2.6 percent in the second quarter.

"This number is significant because these are homes that the owner is not living in and that are not earning rent," Baker said. "This number is higher than in housing downturns of the past."