Will there be a housing shortage? 672,000 new homes were started in April 2010, an annualized rate and less than half the long term run rate needed to meet the nation's natural expected population growth.

The shortfall has been masked by a weak economy and that has put a damper on home buying. Once the job market rebounds, however, people will look to have their own homes again. This pent up demand could get unleashed on unprepared markets, causing shortages and rising local prices.

As many as seven million homes are vacant, but not for sale according to the Census Bureau which should provide some cushion to offset demand. That inventory number, however, can can be deceiving for two reasons: People my not want to live in hard-hit areas where the houses are, many of them are beyond repair and in areas many would not stop a car in, let alone live.

Many smaller Home-builders usually ready and able to help absorb additional demand are unable to obtain construction loans or lost their financing in mid project. Hard times have persuaded builders to postpone purchases of land they could prep for future development. That will make it much longer for them to gear up production once the housing market improves.