Housing Hangover in the Sun Belt

The Census Bureau recently released estimates of state-level population changes, which showed a decline in the growth of some Sun Belt areas. The growth of much of the Sun Belt has been achieved through vast amounts of construction providing low-cost, high-quality homes for ordinary Americans. New construction has declined by more than two-thirds during this recession, and this fall in new building has led to a fall in the population growth of the places that had been building most. This shift should remind us that America’s future is being determined, in no small part, by its housing industry, and that events that affect the supply of housing ripple throughout all of America.