Analyzing the rental vacancy rates on Long Island

Housing is a topic that comes up repeatedly on Long Island.

For more information on the state of housing on LI, we turned to the Census’ “Comparative Housing Characteristics” table.

For the data-curious readers of nextLI, that table is filled with a wealth of variables and stories we can explore.

Let’s start by looking at the vacancy rate.

The vacancy rate is the percentage of unoccupied units in a complex at a single point in time. For example, a vacancy rate of 5 percent at an apartment complex with 100 units would mean there are 5 units that are unoccupied.

It is a way to assess the housing or rental market in a region.

In real terms, a high vacancy rate might mean lower rents and an easier time finding a rental unit, while a low vacancy rate could drive prices higher.

So what is the vacancy rate for Long Island?

At a glance, Long Island has a slightly higher vacancy rate than New York City (of all five boroughs). Suffolk County, in particular, has a comparatively high vacancy rate at 6.2 percent.

Has this changed over time?

Compared to 2014, the vacancy rate of New York City has increased slightly, Nassau County’s decreased, and Suffolk County’s increased by a whopping 1.5 percent.

But this does not necessarily mean that there is an abundance of rental units available in Suffolk County either, even though it looks like the vacancy rate has increased noticeably.

Return tomorrow as we dig into this further.