While 715,000 new single-family homes were built in 2015, the average number of homes built per year is dwarfed by the rates of past years.
The O.C. Register’s Jonathan Lansner noted that the 561,000 annual average rate of home starts since 2008 is less than half the 1.2 million starts averaged from 1983 to 2007. The shortage is driving up home prices.
Among the reasons for the declined rate are neighborhood limits to new development, funding hesitation from investors and lenders, and builders that have found that more money can be made from focusing on luxury products.
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