Real Estate and the Economy:
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America's real estate creates or supports approximately 9 million jobs.
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The construction industry includes 1.6 million self-employed and 6.7 million wage and salary jobs; by the year 2012, there will be a need for an additional 1.1 million special trades contractors.
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U.S. commercial real estate is worth approximately $5 trillion, including 4 billion sq. ft. of office space; 13 billion sq. ft. of industrial property; almost 9.5 billion sq. ft. of shopping center space; 4.4 million hotel rooms; and 33 million sq. ft. of rental apartment space.
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In 1900, 75 percent of urban Americans lived in rented apartments or flats. In contrast, U.S. home ownership in 2006 reached a record high of 68 percent. Housing accounts for about 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in a typical year.
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In 2006, U.S. shopping centers generated $2.25 trillion in sales, and $124 billion in state sales tax revenues.
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The nation's multifamily housing provides homes for over 23 million households.
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There are approximatly 200 publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the U.S. today, with a total total equity market capitalization of $312 billion (as of Dec. 2007). Tens of thousands of individual investors own shares of REITs.
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Spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averages $1.9 billion a day. One out of every seven Americans is directly or indirectly employed in the lodging and tourism industries.
