{"id":32491,"date":"2026-02-09T14:53:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T04:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=32491"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T04:53:29","slug":"how-can-the-united-states-close-its-1-2-million-gap-in-new-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/how-can-the-united-states-close-its-1-2-million-gap-in-new-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can the United States Close its 1.2 Million Gap in New Homes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States is more than 1.2 million homes short of meeting demand, with the National Association of Home Builders warning that the world’s largest housing market by retail value is facing a structural shortage in house supply, which could take decades to unwind. That is according to new data published by NAHB’s Eye on Housing<\/a>, which suggests the gap could close between 2026 and 2030, contingent on sustained homebuilding activity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the squeeze is most acute in single\u2011family construction, which leans on timber systems for 93 per cent of new homes<\/a>, where a combination of restrictive zoning, limited land availability and labour shortages has created bottlenecks and pushed vacancy rates to levels not seen in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the country’s tightest markets, the lack of available housing has led cities to operate with vacancy rates so low that even modest population growth puts immediate pressure on supply. Several California metropolitan areas, for example, including San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, have spent most of the past 20 years with vacancy rates below 4 per cent. Whilst in Chicago, officials say they need 40,000 more units to meet parity, with an additional 20,000 dwellings also needed in New York City and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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