Upending Another Giant Industry

There are tectonic plate shifts in our economy that have existed since the early ages of commerce, events so dramatic, they shake entire industries. An example would be how the advent of the Internet decimated the travel agency world.  A couple of decades ago, trying to book airline tickets and hotel rooms was a laborious, over-the-phone nightmare that travel agents…

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Housing Affordability is a Big Challenge

Last month, I wrote about how population growth is one of the biggest drivers of the entire housing market, including new and existing homes. Why? Because population growth helps drive housing formations. The majority of household formations occur when a group of young Millennials or Gen-Zers leave their parents’ basements and decide to room together, usually in connection with a…

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Housing Sentiment Drops, But What About the Growing Population?

For decades now, I have written columns and made industry presentations around the country that talk about the one, sure-fire driver of construction in America: population growth. Yes, the long, historical graph line has a sawtooth to it, but generally speaking, it is the population growth in our country that has driven construction growth, as we build homes to house…

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The Economic Boom I Expected

Last month, I wrote about the housing boom that I had been predicting, and since then, the National Association of Realtors released a report stating that construction of new housing in the past 20 years fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels and called for a “once-in-a-generation” policy response. But a booming housing market rife with shortages is…

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