TY  - BOOK
AU  - Belsky, Eric S.
TI  - Rental vacancy rates: a policy primer
SN  - 2152-050X
PY  - 0000///312010///
PB  - Housing Policy Debate
KW  - Housing Market
KW  - International
KW  - North America
N1  - KEYWORDS: vacancy rate; housing market; To cite this article: Eric S. Belsky (1992) Rental vacancy rates: A policy primer, Housing Policy Debate, 3:3, 793-813, DOI: 10.1080/10511482.1992.9521110
N2  - Abstract: This article examines how policy makers use rental vacancy rates as indicators of
housing market condition. The common practice of assuming that any rental
market is in equilibrium when its rental vacancy rate is approximately 5 percent is
criticized. Based on theoretical and empirical literature, the case is made that the
rental vacancy rate that prevails when the supply and demand for rental units are
in balance varies among areas and types of units and is not always 5 percent. The
Department of Housing and Urban Development is faulted for not recognizing

these variations and, therefore, misusing rental vacancy rates in its formula alloca-
tions for the Section 8 and HOME programs.

Observed vacancy rates offer meaningful insight into rental market conditions only
when they are compared with empirically derived estimates of equilibrium vacancy
rates. The methods for estimating these rates, however, are still being refined, and
the data needed to derive such estimates are available only for a limited set of
metropolitan areas. Other measures are available that policy makers could use to
judge the adequacy of low-income housing supply in local markets, but they are
also somewhat problematic
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511482.1992.9521110
ER  -