Empty Cities in U.S.

Our real estate market is filled with all types of situations and factors such as falling home prices, underwater mortgages, short sales and even an increase in rentals. Due to all of this, there's a number of empty properties nationwide. According to the Census Bureau, vacant properties have increased by 43.8% across the U.S. This includes unoccupied rental inventory as well as homes that are unoccupied and for sale. The local San Antonio moving specialists learned that as of last year, there were nearly 14.3 million year-round vacant housing units in the country with a 10.6% gross vacancy rate that excludes seasonal vacancies. Toledo, Ohio is at number 10 on the list of emptiest cities, with 11.5% rental vacancy rate and 3.8% homeowner vacancy rate. Toledo is actually the fifth highest in the U.S. for homeowner vacancies alone. Tampa, Florida is at number nine on the list with a 12.8% rental vacancy rate and 3.2% homeowner vacancy rate. Florida is one of the top three real estate markets to be the hardest hit, along with California and Nevada. The recovery in the sunshine state will be slow and steady because the damage is much greater than other cities across the U.S. The local San Antonio movers found out that in May 2012, the foreclosure activity in the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater area increased by almost 111% from May 2011. This means one home in every 304 homes is in foreclosure.Close to San Antonio, Houston takes the number 8 spot. The city hit a three-year high for rental vacancies in 2009 when the rate increased to 18.4%. Today, the rental vacancy rate is at 15.5%. Atlanta's average homeowner vacancy rate is the third-largest among major U.S. cities at 4.2%. It's been getting better since last year when it was at 5.4%. But it's been going in the opposite direction for rental vacancies where it keeps going up and stands at 11.3% now. It's no surprise that Nevada is on this list of emptiest cities with Las Vegas taking the number six spot. At the end of 2011, Sin City ranked second in the country for gross vacancy rates with 16% and a current unemployment rate of 11.8%. These days, the rental vacancy rate dropped to 11.9%. the homeowner vacancy rate is doing bit better going from 5.5% to 2.3%. Richmond, Virginia comes in at number five followed by Detroit at number three. Detroit was one of the hardest hit cities during the recession. The local San Antonio moving specialists learned Detroit has a 9.9% unemployment rate as of May. What's surprising is that its homeowner vacancy rate stays below the 75 largest metro area's average of 2.18%. Memphis is next on the list, followed by Dayton, Ohio and Orlando, Florida. So Orlando takes the title of emptiest cities in the U.S. Its rental vacancy rate is at 18.8%.