1. Rental vacancy up to 7.6%: landlords need units turned fast
On October 28 the U.S. Census Bureau reported a rental vacancy rate of 7.6% for the third quarter of 2026, higher than 7.1% a year earlier and 7.3% in the second quarter. It is the highest rate in the Census table, which goes back to 2020. The median asking rent for a vacant unit was $1,541 a month. The homeowner vacancy rate stayed at 1.2%.
Why a small contractor should care: every month a unit sits empty, its owner loses the rent. A landlord with a vacant unit wants paint, flooring, fixtures and repairs done in days, not weeks, and often owns more than one unit. That is steady, repeat work that does not depend on mortgage rates.
What to do this week: go through your past clients and pick out the landlords and property managers. Send each one a short text: you can turn a vacant unit quickly, and you can come and look the same week.
2. Homeownership 65.5%: the gains are among owners 65 and older
The same release put the homeownership rate at 65.5%. The Census Bureau says that is not statistically different from 65.3% a year earlier or 65.0% in the second quarter. NAHB, reading the same survey, calls it a modest increase and counts about 0.8 million more owner households than a year ago (134 million households in all). By age, NAHB found ownership up 1.2 points among people 65 and older, and down among younger groups: 36.6% for under 35 (down 0.9 points) and 60.1% for 35 to 44 (down 1.0 point).
Why it matters: the people who own homes, and pay for remodeling, are getting older. Older owners ask for different work: safer bathrooms, better lighting, fewer steps, wider doorways.
What to do this week: when you price a bathroom, offer grab bars, a step-free shower and better lighting as a separate option the client can tick, and mention it on your website and in your ads.
Where WorkTime CRM helps with this
In Clients search or filter your list, then use "Broadcast message" to send one text to all the filtered clients at once, for example the landlords you worked for this year. Each reply lands on that client's card, next to their past estimates and invoices.
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