Number of housing units in the US vs population - historical

 Two references:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/240267/number-of-housing-units-in-the-united-states/

I believe these are all units, full or empty...

On population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_United_States

In 1980 we had 226M people in 88Munits, so, about 2.56 people/household. From 1980 to 2010, population grew 82M people. One would expect 32Munits, based on the 1980 ratio, but instead, we grew by 43Munits and we all know where that finished.

In the last 10 years, population has grown by 24M people, which would require 12.5Munits (assuming we did not have over supply in 2010). Instead we got 9Munits, so, sure, one could say that we felt short which could explain partially the inventory shortage (although probably not all of it).