The coming USA housing boom!

Housing starts in the USA have been at an unprecedentedly low level for a strikingly long period of time. And during that period, America's population has continued to grow. Eventually, whatever the economy is doing, Americans require new houses, new houses mean new construction, and new construction means new employment. Rising rents were one of the factors pushing core inflation higher last month, and increasing rents will soon translate into construction.

America doesn't simply face a situation in which housing has failed to keep pace with the growth in population. Since the onset of recession, household growth has fallen short of population growth as families doubled- and tripled-up on housing to economise. There are now nearly 2m fewer households than one would expect given growth in population. As economic conditions improve, many individuals and families now living with others in order to save money will seek their own homes. That should spark a period of catch-up household growth, which should in turn spark a large rise in rents and new construction. A recovering construction industry would help soak up unemployed workers, continuing a virtuous cycle of recovery. After five long years, housing may finally start pulling its economic weight again, or so many Americans must hope.