Mike Hudack is a tumblelog.

Consider the following. The U.S. has about 131 million housing units (homes, apartments, the works). Of that only 112 million are occupied. That means 19 million or a staggering 14.5% of all available housing is empty. Yes, there are homes in cities like Detroit that no one will ever want. And yes, only 2.1 million of the vacant properties (1.6% of the total) are “officially” for sale. But the 2.1 million “for sale” figure is severely understated. There are another 7.8 million U.S. households who are either behind on their mortgage payments or in foreclosure. Several million of those homes will be on the market soon enough. It seems that the only Americans who really need more new houses are the American home builders.