As Houses Empty, Cities Seek Ways to Fill the Void
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Nationwide, the homeowner-vacancy rate, which measures the number of vacant homes for sale, rose to 2.8% in the fourth quarter, the Census Bureau recently reported. That matches a record set in the first quarter of 2007 and is the highest since the government began tracking vacant homes in the 1960s.
The current vacancy rate could be the highest since the Great Depression, when an exodus of Americans left the Dust Bowl states for the West Coast, says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.. Data "strongly suggest that vacancies are at their highest level since the 1930s," he says, adding that the empty homes aren't only depressing property values, "they are weighing on the collective psyche of communities. ... It's kind of like playing for a losing team. It's debilitating."
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http://finance.yahoo.com/real-…bzX4B93JYd6z5HKgDKe27YWsA
Tja, da werden wohl einige Objekte frei ...