Record number of homes vacant

A record 19.1 million homes stood unoccupied in the first quarter, and the U.S. homeownership rate fell as the recession sapped demand for real estate. The number of vacant homes, including foreclosures, those for sale and vacation properties, rose from 18.6 million in 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau says in a report released Monday. The percentage of resident-owned households fell for a third quarter to 67.3 percent. The percentage of all U.S. homes empty and for sale fell to 2.7 percent in the first quarter. It hit an all-time high of 2.9 percent in the first and fourth quarters of 2008, the Census Bureau says. The inventory of homes on the market averaged 3.7 million in each of 2009's first three months, according to the National Association of Realtors. The monthly average was 4.2 million in 2008.

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