To put the numbers in perspective, filling the gap and keeping up with demand would take building more than 2 million homes a year for the next 10 years or 1.78 million for the next 20 years, the researchers estimated—far more than the current trajectory. Builders were on pace in May to break ground on 1.57 million homes over the course of a year, including 1.1 million single-family homes, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly report on new residential construction released Wednesday. That’s a 3.6% increase over April’s figures, but below the annualized rate of 1.62 million that economists at Moody’s Analytics had expected and the 1.73 million rate seen in March. Builders pushing to meet the demand for homes face several headwinds, including high building materials costs and supply chain problems, according to economists. “Following decades of underbuilding and underinvestment, the state of America’s housing stock, which is among the most critical pieces of our national infrastructure, is dire, with a chronic shortage of affordable and available homes to house the nation’s population,” the researchers wrote in the report. Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com.
