The History of Real Estate Development and Housing

Tony Trella
The Maranth Group

 

The gist of Mr. Trella’s presentation was “know the history so you don’t repeat it.”  Mr. Trella’s presentation started with the history of residential housing.

Prior to World War II, the majority of housing in the United States was rental housing. Approximately 65% of the U.S. population rented prior to World War II.

 However, at the conclusion of World War II, things changed.  Between 1946-1952, the U.S. had an explosion of the population with Baby Boomers.  Subdivisions and housing developments started to sprout up across the nation to support the growing need for housing.  Also, the G.I. Bill made it affordable for veterans to purchase property.  Levittown was the first subdivision in New York. It was planned to be the ideal suburb by the Levitt family. Another developer that led the way in planning subdivisions was James Rouse who developed in the Maryland area.

So many interesting facts were cited by Mr.  Trella.  Here are some that stood out for me.

Americans live on less than 5% of the land mass.

60% of the land west of the Mississippi River is owned by the government.

30 million people is the expected population of the United States by 2050.  Florida, Texas and California are expected to have the biggest increases.

Approximately .5% of housing is torn down in the United States every year.

The United State will need 50 million housing units by 2050.

50 million vehicles will be added to the highways and roads over the next 20 years.

According to Mr. Trella, no one in the actual real estate trenches is showing the true real estate numbers.  He believes we are still in a real estate recession.

We need to find innovative ways to address the looming transportation and housing needs in the United Sates.  Are you ready to provide a solution?