Inman

Chicago vacancy rates remain nearly unchanged since 2011

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It’s no secret that a community with a high rate of vacancy typically leads to lower home values. According to the Census Bureau, home vacancies are at the lowest level since 2005 as more buyers are gaining interest in the market.

The National Association of Realtors broke down data from a recently published report from American Community Survey, analyzing more than 32,000 ZIP codes. According to the report, 79 percent of ZIP codes had a vacancy rate of less than 25 percent, 16 percent had a vacancy rate between 25 and 50 percent and 4 percent had a vacancy rate than exceeded 50 percent.

In Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, the 2014 vacancy rate was reported at 9.49, which is mostly unchanged from 9.52 in 2011. Chicago’s vacancy rate is still a sliver lower than the state’s though, which has a rate of about 9.83 percent.