RealtyTrac reports 2.8% vacancy among area homes

RealtyTrac reported that tricounty South Florida has one of the largest percentages of vacant single-family homes among major U.S. metropolitan areas.

The real estate research firm reported vacancies at 54,981 homes in South Florida, or 2.8 percent of the total number of homes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

RealtyTrac determined which homes are vacant by using U.S. Postal Service records.

The firm said 43,169 of the vacant homes in South Florida are rentals and other types of non-owner-occupied housing.

According to RealtyTrac, the vacant homes in South Florida include 703 subject to foreclosure and 1,689 owned by lenders.

South Florida’s 2.9 percent vacancy rate was the 16th-highest among 147 metropolitan areas and well above the national average of 1.6 percent.

The highest home-vacancy rate nationwide is 7.5 percent in Flint, Michigan, where hazardous tap water has led many former residents to relocate. [South Florida Business Journal] — Mike Seemuth