That’s the lowest level of home ownership in the United States since 1999.
After the housing bubble burst, the rate has been declining gradually.
About 18.8 million homes, or 14.4 percent of all houses and apartments, were vacant, according to the government survey. Without vacation homes, that rate would be 11 percent.
The number of vacant homes has soared over the past four years from about 16 million at the start of 2006. It has been hovering around 19 million since the end of 2008. There are around 131 million housing units nationwide, according to the Census Bureau.
About 2.5 percent of all primary residences were vacant and for sale and 10.3 percent of all year-round rental units were listed as vacant and for rent.
Isn’t this just sad. Americans believe in the dream of home ownership, and it’s a mirage for many millions. And if that isn’t enough irony, almost 19 million homes are sitting empty.
We can do better than this.
James Pilant
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
I want to learn how to build a log home. I think it would be nice to build a home and know that the banks didn’t have their hands in it.
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