Back To Man-Camps In Boomtown, USA? -- And East Coast Folks Said The Boom Was Over -- April 10, 2018

This link sent to me by a reader; quite a story.  Completely unexpected. My headline is a bit of hyperbole; the housing shortage this time around is a lot different than the kind of housing shortage Williston had in the early years of the boom. 

From nationalmortgagenews.com: Williston housing shortage could have regional repercussions, by Jessica Holdman, The Bismarck Tribune, April 10, 2018 --

Williston Realtors sold more homes in the first quarter of the year than in any other previously — even outselling 2012 and 2014 boom levels.

Homes that changed hands in the quarter numbered 110 — about 30 a month — said Williston's Development Services Director Mark Schneider.

The North Dakota city is in the midst of a single-family housing shortage that promises only to get worse as oil and gas activity picks up for the season. And while Williston area homebuilders are encouraged by city response to local affordable housing needs, officials are still unsure how incoming workers might be housed through the summer.

Apartments and hotels are at 90% to 95% occupancy already, Schneider said. Williston Area Builders Association President Mike Dolbec, of Windsong Custom Homes, expects those units will be full within a couple months.

Twenty-five single-family homes are listed for sale in the $250,000 to $330,000 range and 24 in the $330,000 to $400,000 range, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
It takes three to four months to build a new home but the current inventory could be gone in two months.

A "task force" has formed to look for solutions. More from the article:

He said this is particularly important with high lot prices — about $65,000 on average in the city and about $70,000 for larger county lots — and higher costs for materials, such as the 40 percent increase for lumber over the past year.

North Dakota Job Service's Williston office has 2,000 job openings advertised. Each week of this school year, the Williston School District saw, on average, 19 new students. And a 2016 North Dakota State University study predicts 60 percent population growth in Williams County by 2029.

That's about 1,600 new people per year, meaning more than 500 homes needed annually if the prediction holds, according to Schneider. The city has 732 buildable lots, complete with sewer and water available, but that won't hold them through even next building season.

Of the homes in the $250,000 to $330,000 range, a price range Gorder said is most attainable for the majority of the young families who are looking, 15 are more than 50 years old and four have been on the market more than 50 days. Only eight are less than 50 years old. In the $330,000 to $400,000 range, six are older than 50 years, one has been on the market more than 100 days, six are still being constructed and 11 are less than 50 years old.

The End of the Line, The Traveling Wilburys