1999
Abstract:
New intermetropolitan and time-series data from the BLS are used to derive and model
the incidence and the duration of rental vacancies and to assess the importance of those
indicators to the price adjustment mechanism for rental housing. Research findings indicate
that the duration of vacancy varies with measures of MSA housing costs and housing stock
heterogeneity; in contrast, the incidence of vacancy varies directly with measures of population
mobility, presence of public housing units, and population growth. Results support a more
general specification of rental price adjustment in which the rate of real rent change reflects
deviations in observed vacancy incidence and duration from their equilibrium levels. Based on
this innovation, the research provides new estimates of equilibrium vacancy rates for a large set
of metropolitan areas over the 1987-1996 period.
