By Guy Page
Vermont – even while suffering its tightest housing market ever – has the highest percentage of vacant homes in the nation, according to a March 1 Lending Tree study.
22.86% of all Vermont homes are vacant, according to the study. The second highest is Maine with 22.68%.
According to the Lending Tree study, Vermont has 341,405 housing units. 78,052 are vacant. Median home value is $235,000.
“Homes can be vacant for a variety of reasons, and just because an area has a high vacancy rate doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s something wrong with its housing market,” says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economist analyst. “Instead, it could mean that the area is rapidly building new homes for sale in order to satisfy high buyer demand; it can also mean that an area is a popular spot for secondary or vacation homes that go unused for most of the year.”
Vermont has the oldest housing stock in the nation and, due to many factors including a shortage of workers and an excess of regulation, is not “rapidly building new homes for sale.” Like Maine, Vermont has a strong ‘second home’ presence due in part to the ski industry.
At least two other reasons have been suggested. A lawmaker with a strong banking background has suggested that the combination of low interest rates and a surging home market have made housing an excellent investment. Therefore, people of means are buying Vermont homes for their rapid value appreciation, not necessarily as personal domiciles. Also, state housing officials have long recognized the growing vacancy of older urban homes, due in part to the high cost of rehabbing to meet state energy and other housing standards. The Scott administration is attempting to allocate more funds for rehabs of older housing.