We can't determine if this is a large number or not without knowing the total population - of either rent stabilized apartments, or all apartments available for rent.
A certain amount of empty property should be expected - they do require renovation and repair.
In commercial real-estate, I believe 10% is considered healthy for offices.
It looks like 3% is considered healthy for apartments?
> A certain amount of empty property should be expected - they do require renovation and repair.
You'd expect a lot more empty property than just what currently needs maintenance. If you have no empty and rentable properties, then when someone comes to you wanting to rent an apartment, you can't rent them one. That's a big problem for you.
This is the same reason you don't expect a secretary's day to be filled with work. You need idle capacity so that when something comes up, you can handle it.
3% is alarmingly low. We need enough vacancies that landlords actually need to compete on rent and conditions, and bad ones risk losing market share. When the worst landlord in the city can easily fill their building with (resentful) tenants, it’s no wonder they’re often despised.
A certain amount of empty property should be expected - they do require renovation and repair.
In commercial real-estate, I believe 10% is considered healthy for offices.
It looks like 3% is considered healthy for apartments?
[1] Residential vacancy rate source for "healthy" - https://www.suburbsfinder.com.au/resources/vacancy-rate-expl...
[2] Commercial vacancy rates: https://www.statista.com/statistics/194054/us-office-vacancy...