Not enough homes built, is this the ROOT of the housing shortage?

[Kenny Simpson]

I went back to look at the data on how many homes were built from 2000 to 2019. I also looked at other data that is either adding or subtracting to the US population growth and looked at owner occupied homeowners and what % of investors are buying homes in the US. We build about 14.5 Million homes from 2000 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2019 we built about 6.9 Million homes in the US. As rates have gone up in 2022 that is going to have an affect on new homes being built in 2023/2024. Wall street buyers started to come in after the 2008 housing crash, buying homes as we all know and renting them out. This is NOT helping inventory levels.

Do you think low inventory levels are a lack of NOT building enough?

[Travis Timmons]

Chiming in from team STR here...short term rentals and/or vacation homes make up, at most, 1-2% of housing stock. If you live in Lake Tahoe, Jackson Hole, or Sevierville, that's a different story, but short term rentals and empty second homes accounting for a housing shortage is simply not backed up by the data. It's a compelling narrative, though, which is why it gains traction. It's just not true outside of a few micro-markets.