About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (July 10, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemdy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 2 Congjressional ____ * £b Research Service The U.S. Housing Underbuilding Gap July 10, 2023 Economists have noted widespread tight housing supply conditions in the United States currently, leading to high home prices and rents. The policy discussion surrounding low supply is often focused on the supply of units affordable to lower-income households given that higher-income households may have more choice even when prices and rents are rising. However, inventory, price, and construction data suggest that supply is relatively low in the aggregate-even at lower price and rent points. For a discussion of factors that could be contributing to low supply, see CRS Report R47617, U.S. Housing Supply: Recent Trends and Policy Considerations, by Lida R. Weinstock. This Insight presents data on residential construction over time to help quantify trends in overall supply and discusses estimates of the underbuilding gap by various organizations. Residential Construction There are several metrics to measure the level of housing construction, including new permits, starts, completions, units currently under construction, and private spending on construction. This Insight focuses on housing starts (the number of housing units that started being built in a given period) as a proxy for total residential construction. Figure 1 below shows housing starts of all types divided by total population since 1980. Starts have always been somewhat cyclical in nature, but this cyclicality was particularly pronounced during the housing and financial crisis of 2007-2009. Combined housing starts fell quickly and by a large magnitude during this period, then rose at a much slower pace in the years after, never fully recovering to pre-2007 levels. After a period of recovery and an acceleration in the pace of starts during the COVID-19 pandemic, starts fell in 2022. Additionally, rental and homeowner vacancy rates have trended downward since the 2007-2009 crisis, indicating that lowered construction rates during this period were likely not a result of ample stock or waning demand. An additional facet to declining construction is declining construction of specific types of housing. For example, the share of construction of starter homes-in this case, defined as single family homes of 1,400 square feet or less-has been trending downward over the past several decades. This alone does not necessarily contribute to low supply of all units, but it may have negative consequences for specific demographic groups or specific local markets. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12195 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most