Owner-occupied housing down in Stanislaus County
Modesto Bee
By J.N. Sbranti
It was been a bad decade for homeownership. The rate of owner-occupied housing dropped throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley between 2000 and 2010, just-released census statistics show.
A decade ago, about 62 percent of Stanislaus County residents owned the homes they lived in. But by last year, owner-occupied housing had fallen to just 60 percent. That's even lower than the ownership rate was in 1990.
This all comes after the real estate bubble burst more than five years ago in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, sending prices tumbling and triggering a tidal wave of foreclosures.
...Statewide, the homeowner vacancy rate shot up from 1.4 percent to 2.1 percent, while the rental vacancy rate rose from 3.7 percent to 6.3 percent, according to data from the 2010 census.
At the same time, the average household size in owner-occupied and rental units increased across the state.
Since the economy tumbled, Californians have left the state in search of jobs or doubled up with family members to ride out the storm in the housing market, real estate experts said.
"People are moving out of state or people are doubling up," said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California.