Here's a scary statistic for your Tuesday morning: 18.6 million homes in the US were vacant in the first three months of 2008. That's almost 6% higher than the same time last year and the highest rate since since the census bureau started keeping track in 1956.

San Francisco, which is supposed to be immune from real estate downturns, reflects this statistic from the curb. I pass at least four empty apartments each day that have been on the market for more than 6 months. How does it look in your neighborhood?

Emily Davidson – A former TransUnion insider and a member of Credit.com's expert team. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com editor.