By Autumn Spredemann
Homes sit empty across the United States while potential owners and renters face affordability challenges and housing shortages in America’s more desirable regions. Real estate and mortgage insiders say the paradox of having both a surplus and shortage of housing is symptomatic of a deeper problem: The country’s supply is disconnected from where people want and need to live.
These geographic discrepancies are compounded by issues like America’s aging housing stock and a concentration of vacant units in seasonal or economically declining markets.
Last year, the housing supply gap surpassed 4 million homes, while recent research points to an excess of housing stock in less desirable real estate markets. In a September 2025 report, the U.S. Census Bureau observed that homes that sit vacant for part of the year increased to around 4.3 million units in 2024, which is up from almost 3.9 million in 2005.
More than 22 million dwellings were added to the U.S. housing market between 2005 and 2024, and housing structures of 50 or more units increased by 4.4 million. Even so, the number of vacant homes rose by only about 570,000 units over a 20-year period, according to official Census data. As of the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Census Bureau reported national vacancy rates of 7.3 percent for rental housing and 1.2 percent for homeowners.
An April 2026 study published in Rural Sociology and based on 2015–2019 census data noted that while many metropolitan areas are experiencing population growth and struggle to meet housing demand, large portions of rural and nonmetropolitan America are facing population declines, aging residents, and subsequent excess housing vacancies.
The results also link structural vacancy to economic disadvantage and weaker housing markets.
The Epoch Times interviewed real estate and mortgage professionals who attribute much of this phenomenon to inconvenient access to critical elements necessary to support daily life in areas with a housing surplus.
“Housing is a local market. A vacant house in a shrinking rural town cannot solve a shortage in a growing city hundreds of miles away. People need housing close to their jobs, schools, health care, and family networks. They cannot simply relocate to an empty house because it is cheaper,” Lisa Martinez, founder and a real estate solutions specialist at TX Cash Homebuyers, told The Epoch Times.
She said this mismatch is key when comparing regions with shifting population demographics to high-demand metropolitan areas.
“Some communities have older homes sitting empty because industries have declined or populations have fallen. Meanwhile, growing job centers face high prices, limited rental availability, and competition for suitable homes,” Martinez said.
She has also observed this within a single metropolitan area, where the problem of a housing excess and shortage can exist side by side.
“A neighborhood may have vacant properties that need extensive repairs while nearby neighborhoods have high rents and very little available housing,” she said. “The empty homes may not be affordable to rehabilitate, or they may be poorly connected to employment centers.”
America’s housing stock is now older than it has ever been, with a median age of 44 years, according to a Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies analysis.
The report noted that in 2023, 2.9 million homeowner households lived in units the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development designated as moderately or severely “inadequate,” with multiple structural deficiencies. This includes problems such as water leaks, noticeable cracks and holes, and issues with basic features like plumbing.
“The United States does not have one housing market; it has hundreds of local ones, and the vacant homes are very often not where the shortage is, not in the condition a buyer or renter needs, and not priced in a way that puts them back into use without real work first,” Anthony Piccone, the founder of 7th Level Mortgage LLC, told The Epoch Times.
He said he works in markets where buyers struggle to find affordable, move-in-ready homes within a reasonable commute. A few hours away, he said there are “vacant houses no one is competing for.”
“That is not a contradiction; it’s a mismatch between where housing sits and where employment, schools, and services draw people,” Piccone said.
In less populated areas, he’s seen the cost to rehabilitate a house approach or exceed its appraised value after completion. “So owners hold it, sell it only for cash, or leave it sitting. Financing a purchase plus renovation is also harder than financing a move-in-ready home, which narrows the buyer pool further.”
Alex Hubler, a real estate professional with JPW Realty in Minnesota, has witnessed the same problem in rural locations.
“The vacant homes in rural areas in my market are often neglected or need rehab before they can be habitable again. Sometimes the cost exceeds the owner’s budget or what financially makes sense to put into the home,” Hubler told The Epoch Times.
Hubler said investment risk and lack of funding for renovations are the primary contributors to rural vacant properties in his area. However, Martinez said there are other reasons to let an aging home sit vacant.
“Unclear ownership, unpaid property taxes, limited access to contractors, and a lack of local rental demand. Some owners live far away and simply do not have the time or money to manage a property,” she said.
A Clever Offers survey of 1,000 American homeowners published in February showed 50 percent of the group had a home in need of urgent, necessary repairs they couldn’t afford.
“I’ve seen investors who bought a long time ago, made money on the property throughout the years, and now let it sit vacant. They essentially use it as a tax tool to show a loss to offset the gains on their profitable properties,” Hubler said.
Like Piccone and Martinez, Hubler has seen the enigma of a lack of housing and a surplus simultaneously. “The greater Minneapolis market is a good example. We have a housing shortage here due to our economic environment, but if you go several counties out it’s a different picture.”
In some real estate markets, empty houses are largely seasonal homes, according to California-based real estate broker Ryan Koubeserian.
“A lot of what shows up as ‘vacant’ in a coastal town like where I specialize is not housing anyone could actually buy or rent,” Koubeserian, co-founder of The Koubeserian Group, told The Epoch Times.
A recent LendingTree study shows an estimated one in 10 U.S. homes are vacant. Within that group, 4.7 million are used as seasonal properties, 2.6 million are available to rent, and fewer than 800,000 are for sale.
In his market, Koubeserian said there are monetary deterrents for seasonal and second homeowners to rent out their unoccupied space.
“In Coronado, the city prohibits rentals under 26 days, so a second-home owner can’t cover costs with short vacation stays. Their options are a longer lease, which most won’t do because it takes the place away from their own family, or leaving it empty between visits. Most pick empty.”
“Units sit empty for much of the year, and local workers still can’t find a place to live in town. Adding vacant second homes back into the count doesn’t help them, because those homes were never really part of the supply,” he said.
