Our housing glut is now statistically relevant to the federal government.

The U.S. Census Bureau rated homeowner vacancy rates in the country's 75 biggest Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Funerary drum roll, please: We're second worst on the list after Orlando. Ouch. Doesn't say much for Central Florida's housing market, does it?

HERE'S THE WHOLE LIST

Why are so many homes vacant? Don't believe all the Dust Bowl-Mr. Potter hype about families kicked out on the street by the oh-so-cruel market. That's only a small part of the problem.

The main issue is housing speculation - gambling if you will - that led to over-construction in 2004-2006. Now thousands of homes sit empty, searching in vain for the families that were supposed to have bought them.

Vacancy in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater nearly tripled in the two years between 2005 and 2007, rising from 1.8 percent to 5.1 percent.

I went back to 1986 to put it in perspective. Our previous high was 4.3-percent vacancy in 1991 during the last property meltdown. Through most of the 80s and 90s it hovered around 2.5 percent.

UPDATE: I failed to define what the government means by homeowner vacancy rates. It is the proportion of homes FOR SALE that are vacant It's vacant homes for sale divided by all the owner-occupied homes in a region, with allowances made for seasonal properties. And it's an estimate using a statistical sample.