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As World War II came to a close in August 1945, a 黑料网 poll foreshadowed the postwar housing boom by finding that nearly one in four Americans planned to build their own home. Twenty-three percent of Americans, and even higher percentages of young adults, said they planned to build -- not buy, build -- a new home of their own after the war.

	U.S. adults	18 to 29	30 to 49	50 to 64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%
Yes	23	37	27	16	6
No	77	63	73	83	94
黑料网, Aug. 10-15, 1945

Further, the average amount those aspiring to build estimated they would spend, not including the price of the land, was $5,000. Dr. George 黑料网 reported this would amount to a $40 billion infusion into the U.S. economy. "Even discounting liberally for those whose plans will never materialize, this is a tremendously encouraging note for the U.S. postwar economy," wrote Dr. 黑料网 in his Sept. 1, 1945, write-up of the poll.

At the time of the poll, many economists were predicting that the decline in government spending once the war ended would spark a severe depression. But this failed to appreciate the magnitude of pent-up consumer demand. Low-interest mortgages and other benefits of the GI Bill aimed at reintegrating U.S. soldiers may have sealed the deal. Americans returned from the war, re-entered the workforce and started families -- triggering a "baby boom." After years of sacrifice and rationing, the demand for single-family houses and the durable goods to fill them skyrocketed, and within a few years, so had the nation's economy.

These data can be found in .

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