Strong demand, tight supply in housing market

A decade after the onset of the Great Recession, the national housing market has, by many measures, returned to normal, according to the latest State of the Nation’s Housing report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Housing demand, home prices and construction volumes are all on the rise and the number of distressed homeowners has fallen sharply. However, along with strengthening demand, extremely tight supplies of both for-sale and for-rent homes are pushing up housing costs and adding to ongoing concerns about affordability, according to the center.

“While the recovery in home prices reflects a welcome pickup in demand, it is also being driven by very tight supply,” the center’s managing director Chris Herbert said in a statement. “Any excess housing that may have been built during the boom years has been absorbed, and a stronger supply response is going to be needed to keep pace with demand — particularly for moderately priced homes.”

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