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How much of the economy is made up from the housing market?

In a percentage? I am unsure whether the housing market, and all its related services and goods, such as delivery vans and furniture stores, have a major role in the economy, and i was wanting to know a percentage figure for the amount that they take up. All help appreciated. :)

Public Comments

1. It depends on where and what you are including. For example, are you including the total amount paid by in rent or mortgage payments? In that case, the U.S. Labor Department estimates (as part of its CPI calculations) around 40% for the "cost of housing" (including utilities but not including furniture). And since consumer spending is 70% of the economy, ... If you are only concerned with houses as a commodity (building, buying, selling), then you might want to look at this data: http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/ushmc/fall08/index.html table 20 notes that the value of new home construction is on the order of $400 billion a year, but for each new home sold, there are about 5 existing homes sold. Another way to look at is that in 2003, $3.9 trillion was lent in mortgages on single family homes (2008 was half that), with a GDP on the order of $13 trillion.