US Housing Stock.2010Ever wondered how many housing units there were in the United States? I did a little research and have came up with the following data. At the end of the third quarter in 2010, the estimate of the total housing stock, 130,681,000 units, was up a statistically insignificant 0.1 percent from the second quarter of 2010 and up a statistically innsignificant 0.5 percent from the third quarter of 2009.
As of this morning, there are an estimated 311,963,071 people in the United States. That would equate to 2.39 people per housing unit.
If you look at the accompanying chart, you will see that of all the available housing, there are approximately 85.64% that are occupied. I am not sure where that needs to go to find some equilibrium where the new construction of single-family homes begins.

Source: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce