Vacant Properties Trouble Tight Housing Markets Too

"Nearly 340 residential buildings sit empty and boarded across Minneapolis, despite a severe housing shortage and a steep vacant property fee that has raised $20 million for city services over the past decade," reports Andy Mannix.

The number of vacant properties has declined by half since the height of the Great Recession and Foreclosure Crisis, according to Mannix, but the remaining vacancies are proving particularly obstinate.

According to Mannix, the persistence of these vacant properties works contrary to every manner of market pressure. The city charges the owners of vacant properties $7,000 a year in fees, the housing market is tighter than it's been in decades, and the foreclosure rate in Minneapolis is one of the lowest in the country.

The article explores, in a lot more detail, why vacant property owners keep paying the fee, what services the fee pays for, and why the city is motivated to improve vacant properties.