I live in an area where a lot of houses are bought, then demolished and rebuilt. Of course, they are sold at a much higher price than for the original home. I see this happening all over the city. This also impacts the supply of homes available because these homes are unavailable while they are being rebuilt over perhaps a year's time. Of course, these homes come back on the market eventually, but, in the meantime, other homes are purchased by re-builders so that there is always an ongoing reduced inventory. I wonder if these are the "unoccupied homes" that they're referring to.