America isn't building enough homes for first-time buyers

America isn't building enough homes for first-time buyers.

On Monday, we argued that a lack of supply in the housing market is ushering in the next housing crisis.

Unlike the pre-recession housing crisis that contended with too much supply and bad financing, the current "crisis" is centered around financing conditions that are extremely tight with inventories that are dwindling.

And as the following chart - which comes to us from housing economist Tom Lawler (via Calculated Risk) - shows, new home construction is simply not taking place at the lower-end of the market.

Since the early '90s, new homes built in the US have been getting larger.

And while the construction of homes of all sizes cratered after the housing bust, as the market has come back to life most of the growth in new homes has come from larger homes, doing little to alleviate the squeeze being put on the next generation of would-be homeowners.

Calculated Risk