WHAT HOUSING SHORTAGE?

We're constantly told America needs millions more homes. Build, build, build!

But what happens when we look at the actual numbers?

The latest U.S. Census Bureau data tells a rather different story.

Here are the numbers for Q3 2026:

1.51 MILLION net additional housing units over the past 12 months.

4.93 MILLION vacant homes and apartments available for rent or sale, up 7.1% year-over-year and the highest level since 2013.

3.87 MILLION vacant units available for rent, up 9% year-over-year and the highest since 2011.

1.06 MILLION vacant units available for sale.

The U.S. added approximately 1.51 million net housing units in the past year, while its population grew by just 757,000 people over the 12 months through July 2026.

That's enough additional housing capacity for roughly 3.78 million people, using the average household size of 2.5 people.

Meanwhile, population growth was a fraction of the housing capacity being added.

So where's the shortage?

If millions of homes are sitting vacant, rental vacancies are rising, and the housing stock is growing substantially faster than the population, shouldn't we at least question the narrative that America simply doesn't have enough homes?

What I see is a housing affordability crisis, not a housing shortage crisis.

Real Estate 101:

When people can't afford the asking price, homes sit unsold.

When landlords demand rents tenants can't afford, apartments sit vacant.

When sellers refuse to adjust their prices to market reality, inventory accumulates.

When supply keeps growing faster than demand, the problem isn't a lack of roofs over people's heads. It's a mismatch between what housing costs and what people can afford to pay.
𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡.