Vacancy rates for houses and apartments are still high and the inventory of unsold homes, while declining, is also high. The takeaway from this: expect the residential real estate slump to persist for at least another year or more. Unless our population surges or a group of arsonists start torching suburban neighborhoods in the Sunbelt then the recession in housing will persist. The possibility that we will be facing a housing shortage in a few years is an interesting idea, but I'm skeptical of it. Our ability to build houses quickly is well established. It would be better if our next housing boom wasn't as crazy as the last one, though.
Update: I should preface any blog post about American housing with the observation that geography is the most important factor in the housing market. Some markets are in deep trouble and will stay there for a while. Other markets never experienced a boom in quantity, merely a boom in prices, which in some places, is still sustained (i.e. NYC, Boston, Silicon Valley).
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