Census Shows Tremendous Opportunities in Real Estate
For those of you who think the real estate industry is dead, consider the following:
- United States– The population of the United States increased in the past 10 years by almost 10% and is now at 308 million people. At 2.4 persons per household (or home), there should be approximately 128 million households in the United States. If the population were to increase another 10% in the next 10 years, we would have another 31 million people in the country. At 2.4 persons per household, we would need to build another 13 million homes in the next 10 years to meet demand. That’s another One Million dwelling units that would have to be built every year.
- Florida- Florida’s population increased 18%, to almost 19 million. At 2.4 persons per household, it would mean there are approximately 7.5 million dwelling units. If the population increased another 18% in the next 10 years, the state would have to add another 1.4 million units to meet needs of over 3 million new residents. That would mean Florida would have to build another 116,000 dwelling units per year to meet its growing population. Most of these homes will be built along the coastal metropolitan areas.
- New Jersey- population increased 377,000 in the past 10 years, to 8.8 million. This represents a 4.3% annual growth rate. If the population were to increase at the same rate during the next 10 years, New Jersey would need to build another 157,000 unites to meet the demand from 378,000 additional residents.
- The Future of Housing- With new housing starts over the past few years at a fraction of the numbers required to meet future housing demand, many people have been hesitant to buy or invest in a second home or real estate. But, the numbers indicate an impressive opportunity. Future population increases will require significantly more homes in the coming years. Don’t let the overbuilding of the “flip for instant profit” and “easy credit” years be misleading. The past few years have been dedicated to absorbing the excess inventory created to meet the false demand during the housing bubble years.