Housing supply has not kept up with demand. There is a myriad of demand drivers, and a key one is single-person household formation. More and more people, both young and old are living alone. For instance, between 1964 and 2024, the number of single-person households has increased 4.9 times in the US and 6.6 times in the Netherlands compared to total households growth of 2.4 times and 2.5 times respectively. However, globally, countries are generally struggling with a housing shortage. In November, US home mortgage guarantors Freddie Mac updated its estimate of the US housing shortage to 3.7 million. Across the border in Canada, the Royal Bank of Canada estimates new households and housing stock have diverged 545,000 units since 2015. And similar issues are present across the pond in Europe with the Netherlands, Germany and Italy facing the largest shortage, according to ING Bank. In the Netherlands, a poll showed over 80% of people thought there is a housing crisis in their country.
Source: US Census Bureau, Dutch CBS, December 2024.