US: Rental vacancies steady as for-sale market remains tight

Research evidence excerpt

US: Rental vacancies steady as for-sale market remains tight

J P M O R G A N Global Economic Research

28 July 2026

US: Rental vacancies steady as

for-sale market remains tight

The Census Bureau’s 2Q26 Housing Vacancy Survey suggested some slowdown Economic and Policy Research

in the normalization of the rental market from historically tight conditions, while Bennett Parrish

the for-sale market remained tight due to a lack of available inventory. The rental (1-212) 622-9003

vacancy rate held at 7.3% in 2Q26, unchanged from 1Q26 and up from 7.0% a year bennett.parrish@jpmchase.com

ago. Prior to 2Q’s flat print, the rental vacancy rate had steadily climbed from a JPMorgan Chase Bank NA

post-pandemic low of 5.6% in 2Q22 as multifamily completions added supply

against slowing renter household growth. The rental vacancy rate is highest in the

South (9.5%), well above the Midwest (6.9%), Northeast (5.9%), and West (5.3%).

The South is the nation’s largest market for new home construction and has

absorbed an outsized share of recent multifamily deliveries. On the for-sale side,

the market remains tight. The homeowner vacancy rate ticked up to 1.2% in 2Q26

from 1.1% in 1Q26, although the press release noted that the difference between

these two figures is not statistically significant. Elevated mortgage rates continue

to keep many potential buyers and sellers on the sidelines.

The price-to-rent ratio continues to suggest that owning remains expensive relative

to renting. The four-quarter moving average of the median asking price for vacant

for-sale units as a share of annualized median asking rent edged down to 19.3 in

2Q26 from 19.5 in 1Q26, remaining near its highest reading since the mid-2000s.

Total occupied housing units rose by 1.23mn over the four quarters through 2Q26