Rental vacancies move higher

The U.S. rental vacancy rate rose to 7.6% in the third quarter of 2026, the Census Bureau reported October 28, marking an increase from both the previous quarter and a year earlier. Homeowner vacancy, by contrast, remained at 1.2%, leaving the two sides of the housing market with different vacancy trends.

The rental reading was 0.3 percentage point above the second quarter’s 7.3% and 0.5 percentage point above the 7.1% recorded in the third quarter of 2025. Those comparisons establish a higher national rental vacancy rate over both time frames, rather than merely a change from one quarter to the next.

The release covers July through September; October 28 is its publication date, not the period in which the vacancies were measured. It provides a new quarterly snapshot of rental availability, but does not by itself establish how rents changed or whether landlords offered more concessions.

For rental-property owners and prospective tenants, the central finding is the increase in the share of rental housing standing vacant. The national figure does not establish that every local market loosened, nor does it identify whether new supply, changes in household demand or other factors accounted for the increase.

No confirmed jump in homeownership

The homeownership rate was estimated at 65.5%, compared with 65.0% in the second quarter and 65.3% a year earlier. But Census said neither difference was statistically significant. The higher point estimate therefore should not be read as a confirmed quarterly rebound or an established annual gain in ownership.

That qualification matters because the numerical increase from the second quarter was half a percentage point. Reporting only the two headline estimates would suggest a firmer change than the agency’s statistical assessment supports.

Homeowner vacancy showed a more straightforward pattern of stability. At 1.2%, the third-quarter rate was virtually unchanged from both comparison periods, which also registered 1.2%. The increase in rental vacancy consequently was not accompanied by a comparable increase in homeowner vacancy.

Taken together, the measures describe higher rental vacancy alongside broadly stable homeowner vacancy and no statistically established change in the homeownership rate. They do not demonstrate a nationwide shift of households from renting into ownership.

Household purchasing power remains a separate question

Separate Labor Department figures provide context for household budgets, without explaining the vacancy increase. The Employment Cost Index released October 30 showed civilian compensation costs rising 0.8%, seasonally adjusted, from June to September. Over the year, wages and salaries increased 3.1%, while total compensation rose 3.4% and benefit costs increased 3.9%.

The BLS economic news summary also reported a 0.5% seasonally adjusted decline in real average hourly earnings in September. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% that month, while consumer prices increased 0.6%. Those earnings figures are distinct from the quarterly compensation measure and should not be treated as interchangeable.

Higher rental vacancy does not, on its own, demonstrate improved affordability for those households. The new housing report establishes a change in vacancy, not a reduction in rent burdens. Its clearest conclusion is narrower: the national rental vacancy rate moved higher in the third quarter while the homeowner vacancy rate remained steady.