If you haven’t heard, the housing market is pretty bad right now. It has been for a while. On the buyer side, it is a great time to buy a house as interest rates are around 3.75%. The slump in house building does not just affect home builders. When building houses comes to a stand still, may companies suffer. Many home builders have gone out of business in the last four or five years, but other industries suffer as well.

One industry that suffers heavily is the concrete industry. Sure they still provide concrete for retail jobs, but think of what they lose. In any given development of homes there are driveways that are not being poured. Every home needs concrete flooring for the basement or a concrete slap. Think about all the side walks that line the development that no longer need concrete. This industry takes a big hit when home builders slow down, or even worse – stop.

Another industry that takes a beating is the lumber industry. Many houses, especially homes from the same builder who is cranking them out quickly are made with wood. Even brick homes have an interior structured by wood. Wood is also used to make the roof. Wood may mean less trees to cut down, but it also means less profit for companies.

Skilled labor also suffers because of the housing collapse. Many talented laborers are forced to find work when things get tough. Many of them have seen the ups and downs of construction. If the “new job” ends up working out for them, many of them never return to full-time work in their particular industry again. They hold resentment over the fact that they have something to offer and no one seems to want their services. They have probably thought about changing careers in the past, and this last drastic halt pushed them to act.

Let’s hope the housing boom happens once again. But, until then, we must realize that there are many industries and individuals that suffer when home builders stop building.