Bradenton-Sarasota area has big drop in homeownership vacancy rate

Homeownership dipped slightly in Florida statewide last year, but there were gains in southwest Florida.

At the same time, the Bradenton-Sarasota area had the nation’s second-biggest drop in the homeownership vacancy rate, going from 3.3 percent to 1.2 percent, according to Census figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sarasota also had the highest homeownership rate at 73 percent in the state, while Miami had the lowest at 58 percent.

The Census figures showed that the home ownership rate in Florida dropped from 64.8 percent in 2015 to 64.3 percent last year.

However, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area had the nation’s third biggest gain in the homeownership rate of major metro areas, going from 62.9 percent to 66.5 percent.

Florida has been shaking off the housing crisis of a decade ago, when foreclosures hit the state hard.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Bradenton-Sarasota area has big drop in homeownership vacancy rate."