Greene County, deep in Alabama’s Black Belt region, is the smallest county in the state, and one of the poorest. It’s one of only two counties in Alabama with fewer than 10,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And it’s shrinking - it lost nearly 10 percent of its population between 2010 and 2018.
As Greene loses population, the people who remain are forced to deal with the properties left behind. More than 42 percent of all housing units in Greene County were vacant in 2018, according to the Census. That’s the highest rate in Alabama, a state that itself is near the top of the country in terms of vacancy rate.
Alabama is fourth in the country for raw vacancy rate. More than 18 percent of all housing units in the state are empty. Not all empty houses and apartments are are a bad thing, though. Many areas of the country, included certain parts of Alabama, see their vacancy rates climb because they have lots of seasonal housing.
Think of Alabama beaches in Baldwin County. There are lots of beach houses and condos that sit empty for most of the year, but are used throughout the summer. As a result, Baldwin’s raw vacancy rate is high - nearly 30 percent. And Baldwin is the fastest growing county in Alabama.
The Census has multiple designations for vacant housing units, including one for units that are for “seasonal, recreational or occasional use.” Baldwin County has a very high number of units in this category. Another category, classified as “other vacant” by the Census, could be a better indicator of areas that have seen houses that are abandoned or areas where housing markets are in bad shape, according to a 2018 report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Some housing vacancy is a good, even vital, thing for a healthy real estate market, according to the report from the Lincoln Institute. People move all the time, and for all kinds of reasons, and if there was no available housing, there wouldn’t be anywhere for them to move to. This “other vacant” category, though, isn’t a good thing.
“'Other vacant’ is a catch-all category that includes but is not limited to properties that are neglected and abandoned," according to the report. “This category is a significant indicator of property and overall neighborhood conditions.”
When excluding seasonal rentals, and looking at the “other vacancy” statistic, Alabama jumps to the second-highest vacancy rate in the country, behind only West Virginia. Nearly 9 percent of all housing units in Alabama are empty with this more significant designation.
This data was only available from the Census for 2017.
Alabama has the second highest percentage of vacant housing in the country. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald
Within Alabama, when looking at “other vacant,” Baldwin County sees the raw vacancy rate of 30 percent fall to just 4 percent - the third lowest in Alabama.
Fast-growing Lee County, home of Auburn University and a hub of new development along the Alabama-Georgia line, has the lowest “other” vacancy rate in the state at just 2.6 percent. Shelby County, an affluent suburb of Birmingham and one of the richest counties in Alabama, is second. Just 2 percent of housing units there are classified in this way.
Madison County, home of Huntsville, is fourth, at 4.2 percent. Elmore County, just north of Montgomery, rounds out the five counties with the lowest rates of empty, neglected and/or abandoned homes.
Greene County rises to ninth-highest on the list in terms of “other" vacancy rate. Conecuh County, in South Alabama, jumps to first. Nearly 24 percent of all housing units there fall under this category. Bibb County, just south of Birmingham, is second, with 21 percent. Choctaw and Washington, neighboring counties in southwest Alabama along the border with Mississippi, are third and fourth, respectively. Perry County, in the Black Belt, is fifth.
High vacancy rates like this can have far-reaching implications. If a specific neighborhood has a lot of abandoned houses, it can lead to lower housing values for their neighbors, according to the Lincoln Institute report.
“Vacant buildings and lots can significantly reduce the value of the occupied properties close to them,” the report’s author, Alan Mallach, wrote. “Studies in Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio, found that a vacant building on a block can reduce the value of nearby properties by 20 percent or more.”
“Obviously it’s not a good sign when you have a well above average vacancy rate in an area,” said Stuart Norton, a research coordinator for the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama. “But in the long term, it could present an opportunity for investment."
Norton pointed to two neighborhoods in the Birmingham area - Woodlawn and Avondale - as examples of what can happen when investors come into areas with high vacancy rates.
In Jefferson County, home of Birmingham and the largest county in the state, 8.6 percent of housing falls under the “other vacant" classification. That’s up nearly three percentage points since 2010.
Mobile saw a rate of nearly 7 percent under this category, and Montgomery’s rate was 7.2 percent.
Greene County, in the Black Belt, has the highest vacancy rate in Alabama. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald
Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here.