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Varies by region, I'm sure. The latest number is 19 million vacant homes today, or roughly 1 in 9. Only a portion are for sale or for rent. Others are second homes. Nevertheless, it is a drag on the economy and the housing market.

Unknown is whether the inventory of non-performing loans is considered in the statistic above. FHA, Fannie, and Freddie are sitting on well over 200k homes, and have a ton in the pipeline ready to be foreclosed. Word is private banks have an even larger backlog. The question is how will these properties by unloaded. There is no funnel to restrict supply. As REO portfolio grows, the for sale inventory must grow, and by my eyes, the market cannot handle a huge influx without seeing remarkable price declines.