Google is being uncooperative with loading graphics today so I can't post the nifty graph that shows how U.S. homebuilding is in the toilet right now. In fact, it's deeper in the hole than at any point since they started tracking data in a consistent fashion--which is only back to 1960ish. This is a problem, because traditionally, housing has been the leading indicator for economic recovery and the ongoing collapse of the housing price bubble has made traditional expectations futile and useless.
I don't know if there is a housing shortage right now, but I can state with confidence, if the current trend persists, then we will have a housing shortage eventually. The U.S. population is growing, and although household formation has stalled, the demand profile has to respond to the demographic inevitability of people moving forward in life and changing their living conditions. Unless,of course, we really are regressing and have entered a stage of deterioration that will end in a Jared Diamond style collapse of the civilization.
But, what is housing? Ultimately this is a qualitative question, and although building codes have specific criteria, the dynamics of shelter architecture make it hard to assess how much, and how good American housing is.
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