The Census Bureau reported that the percentage of vacant homes for sale in The U.S. reached a new record high in the first quarter of the year. The bureau report shows that 2.9 percent of U.S. homes were vacant and for sale, compared with 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. It was the highest quarterly figures recorded since 1956.

That actual number of properties is 2.28 million, up from 2.18 million in the same period last year, according to the report.

The West had the biggest gain in vacancy rates among homeowners, rising to 3.2 percent in the January-March period from 2.6 percent in the same period a year earlier. Vacancy rates moved up in the Northeast and remained steady in the Midwest and South. The national vacancy rate, including new and existing homes, has been consistently rising since mid-2005.

The Census Bureau’s report also said that the U.S. homeownership rate remained at 67.8 percent in the first quarter, down from a peak of 69.2 percent at the end of 2004.

The housing market’s five-year boom is quickly eroded by the sharp home price declines over the past two years in once hot sales areas such as California and Nevada.

Last week, a Commerce Department report said sales of new homes plunged in March to the slowest pace in 16 1/2 years matched by the increasing inventories of homes for sale.

Builders implemented price cuts, but it had little effect to improve the marketability of the homes. Buyers are still holding out, uncertain about when the price will reach the bottom.

The National Association of Realtors reported last week that sales of existing homes also fell in March, dropping by 2 percent, with prices declining on a year-over-year basis by 7.7 percent.