San Rafael, CA housing supply, ownership, and rent

The local figures answer the first question: San Rafael, CA's current ACS housing baseline includes 23,909 total housing units, 22,910 occupied units, and 999 vacant units. For the decision at hand, those counts can help a borrower establish the scale of the measured housing base before comparing tenure, rent, current listings, property condition, and financing. The figures describe stock across the survey period; they do not say that 999 homes were listed for sale or available to rent at one moment. In practical terms, reading 23,909 total units with 22,910 occupied and 999 vacant units keeps the release internally grounded while leaving live availability to current listing and property evidence.

Vacant units in San Rafael, CA decreased from 1,035 in the prior ACS period to 999 in the current release, a reported movement of 3.5%. In the current housing stock, 999 units equal 4.2% of the 23,909 total. ACS vacancy covers several statuses, so the 4.2% share cannot be read as the share of homes a buyer can purchase today or the share of rentals immediately available. The movement from 1,035 to 999 can nevertheless prompt better questions about current for-sale and rental inventory in San Rafael, CA, provided those questions are answered with timely listing and property data rather than the survey count alone.