THE VALLEYS Area rental vacancies are attributed to construction

New addresses have increased significantly while demolitions have not kept up, a planning official said.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- A significant increase in rental vacancy rates in Trumbull County over the past decade is likely the result of a booming construction industry, a planning official said.
While Trumbull County saw the vacancy rate among owner-occupied units rise slightly from 1.1 percent to 1.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, rental units increased from 6.6 percent to 10.5 percent during the decade, according to census data.
Although the slight increase among owner-occupied homes is of little concern, the increase among rental unit vacancies is a significant jump, said Jamie Persino, a geographic information systems planner with the Trumbull County Planning Commission.
"New construction would be one of the major reasons," Persino said.
Vacancies across the board resulted when older homes were never filled and when renters turned in their leases for low-interest mortgages.
When the county updated its address list in 1999, Persino said, officials discovered several new addresses.
Demolitions of abandoned buildings have not kept pace.
Another reason for the change in rental unit vacancies might be an increase in the total amount of rental units in the county, such as newly constructed duplexes and rental condominiums.
By location: Within the county, Persino said, housing unit vacancies have increased most significantly in Warren and Howland, with urban sprawl being a large contributor to the jump.
Virginia Neff, co-founder of the Trumbull County Landlords Association, said there is always a concern when numbers show that customers are becoming fewer.
But, she said, she has not seen a significant change among the properties she rents in Warren. When she has a property for rent and advertises it, a number of people show interest.
She said people historically want to own homes, but she has seen no indication of a rise in homeownership, and she has not seen fewer rentals in Warren or in surrounding areas.
Mahoning County: Other census data show an increase in housing unit vacancies in Mahoning County over the past decade as well. There, the homeowner-occupied vacancy rate increased from 1.3 percent to 1.9 percent; the rental unit vacancy rate jumped from 7.9 percent to 9.7 percent.
In Youngstown, Bill D'Avignon, deputy city director of planning, said he had not yet seen citywide numbers but would guess that the county numbers reflect what he has seen in Youngstown -- but not to the extent that they exist in the city. In the city, he said, he suspects vacancies have increased more significantly among both owned and rented properties.
D'Avignon cautioned, however, that the statistics are only a "snapshot" of the area during a certain period. Vacancy rates can fluctuate.
"I'm not sure it identifies a countywide trend," he said, referring to the Mahoning County numbers. "I wouldn't start ringing alarm bells."
Elsewhere: In Columbiana County, vacancy rates declined, the data show.
The vacancy rate among homeowner-occupied units decreased from 1.5 percent to 1.4 percent from 1990 to 2000, and the rental unit vacancy rate dropped from 7.1 percent to 6.4 percent.
In Lawrence County, the homeowner vacancy rate increased from 1.2 percent to 1.6 percent, while the rental unit vacancy rate declined by 1 percent to 7.4.
In Mercer County, the vacancy rate among homeowner-occupied housing increased from 1.1 percent to 1.5 percent.
The vacancy rate among rental units rose from 5.5 percent to 6.7 percent.