Apparently this is bad news:
NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. apartment vacancy rate rose to an almost 30-year high of 8 percent in the fourth quarter, and rents dropped in the biggest one-year slump in 2009, according to real estate research company Reis Inc.
The report reflects the job market, which so far has stubbornly refused to follow positive economic indicators such as the stock market rebound and improved manufacturing demand.
But that’s only 1 way of looking at it. Another, of course, is to report that it hasn’t been cheaper to rent in years! I find it strange that we report falling home prices as bad, when, in fact, it results in allowing more and more people to afford a home of their own.
The world is a funny place.