CBO Background Paper: The Outlook for Housing Starts, 2009 to 2012 – November 2008
the role of demographics; cyclical and financial conditions, such as unemployment rates and lending standards; and the number of excess vacant units. CBO expects that housing starts will fall far enough below underlying demand for a long enough period to eliminate the current glut of vacant units and any temporary shortfall of demand due to adverse cyclical and financial conditions; this paper presents
three alternative scenarios that could achieve that outcome. In keeping with CBOs mandate to provide objective, nonpartisan analysis, this paper makes no policy recommendations.”