The number of empty homes in the United States – including foreclosures, residences for sale, and vacation properties – rose during the third quarter, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday.

There were a total of 18.8 million vacant homes scattered across the country during the three-month period ending with September, the federal agency reported. That number is up from 18.7 million during the previous quarter and 18.4 million during the third quarter of 2008.

The record high for vacancies was hit in the first quarter of this year, when 18.95 million homes sat empty.

The Census Bureau lumps foreclosure vacancies together with vacation homes that are typically used year-round but empty, and properties that are unoccupied because they are the focus of a legal dispute. The federal agency documented 7.7 million of the homes in this group as vacant during the third quarter, up from 7.5 million a year ago.

For third quarter 2009, the regional homeowner vacancy rate was highest in the South, at 2.8 percent. In the Midwest, 2.6 percent of homes were empty, while in the West, that figure dropped to 2.4 percent. The Northeast part of the country had the lowest homeowner vacancy rate, at 2.0 percent.

Citing the census study, Bloomberg News reported that in total, there were 130.3 million homes in the United States in the third quarter.