Residential construcfion is the largest market for lumber and panel products 



following analysis from (1) estimates of future 

 requirements for new dwellings to provide for 

 prospective increases in households, (2) prospective 

 replacements of dwellings, (3) trends in the size 

 and characteristics of new dweUings, and (4) trends 

 in use of wood products in each type of dwelling. 



Housing Inventories Nearly 

 Double by 2000 



The number of households in the United States 

 more than doubled in the period 1920-60, rising 

 from 24.4 million to about 53 million units (table 

 5). The projections of households show a further 

 rise to approximately 101 million units in 2000. 



Vacancies represent a significant part of the total 

 housing inventory and constitute a substantial 

 part of the demand for housing. Available data 

 for recent years indicate vacancy ratios varying 

 between 6.3 percent of the total housing inventory 

 in 1940 and 10.2 percent in 1962 (table 6). It was 

 assumed in this analysis that vacant dwelling units 

 would continue to represent about 10 percent of 

 the Nation's housing inventory. The total hous- 

 ing inventory, including vacancies, is thus pro- 

 jected to rise to about 112 million units in 2000 

 (table 5). 



New Household Formation the Primary 

 Source of Demand for Housing 



In the decade 1950-60 about 73 percent of the 

 housing units provided was attributable to an 



Table 6. — Residential vacancy rates by type of 

 vacancy, 19Ji.0-62 



[Percent of all dwellin 



g units] 







Type of vacancy- 



1940 



1950 



1960 > 



1962 1 



Net for sale or rent - 



Seasonal 



Dilapidated 



For sale or rent 



0.4 

 1.8 



1.7 

 2.5 



2.8 

 2.7 

 1.1 

 3.5 



2.9 

 3.0 

 0.8 

 3.5 



Total vacancies 



6.3 



6.9 



10.1 



10.2 



' Vacancy rates during the fourth quarter of the year. 



- Includes units held off market for such reasons as: 

 Rented or sold but awaiting occupancy, reserved for the 

 owner's use as a second home, temporarily not on market 

 for personal reasons of the owner, and not offered for rent 

 or sale because of location in places of little demand for 

 housing. 



Sources: 1940, Housing and Home Finance Agency, The 

 Housing Situation, The Factual Background, June 1949. 

 1950-62, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

 Census, Current Housing Reports, 1963. (Series H-111, 

 No. 31). 



increase in households and the remainder to 

 replacement of housing units (table 7). In the 

 1930's and 1940's the proportions of dwelling units 

 provided for new households was even greater. 



This dependence of the residential construction 

 industry on new household formation is expected 

 to diminish somewhat in the 1960's, but in the 

 1990's still amounts to an estimated 60 percent 

 of the total projected housing demand. 



The replacement of dwelling units also consti- 

 tutes a major soui'ce of demand for materials. 



