December 2010 column for Builder & Developer now online

My column for the December issue of Builder & Developer magazine is now posted online. This month's issue, which is entitled "Short-Run Pain Can Lead to Long-Term Benefits" -- is essentially a review of the housing market and the economy in 2010.
An excerpt:

According to a recent study conducted by the NAHB, although the nation’s builders certainly over-built single-family homes from 2003 through 2005, the cumulative surplus relative to population growth was completely worked off by the end of 2007. That’s not to say we still don’t have a huge over-supply relative to buyers’ ability to buy or qualify for mortgage loans – it just means that based on historical precedent and average household sizes, the nation is technically under-housed.

In fact, between the end of 2007 and 2009, the sharp declines in new building led to a projected deficit of nearly 2.2 million units. By the end of this year, that deficit will have reached nearly 3.3 million units. In other words, as the foreclosure pipeline is eventually addressed – and it must be in order to clear the inventory of homes in default -- this country will face a tremendous pent-up demand for new housing across the entire income spectrum.

Click here to read the entire column.

Click here to read the entire magazine in digital format.