Construction is a field, that for the most part, has not changed a great deal over the decades. Most of the recent advancements in that arena come as it pertains to design.

This is all about to change and one of the leading technologies is 3D printing. The idea of 3D printing houses is starting to gain some traction.

As I mentioned in the past, there is a project where the first two houses were built in Mexico, an area where the average income is $3 a day. The idea of the printer is to put up a house in a day for a lot less money. At this segment of the market, it is now possible.

please note the "put up a house" refers to the shell and interior walls

Here is a video that really explains the technology and opens up the point of this article.

The key in all of this is the fact the goal the CEO stated. I believe this is a component that could radically alter the landscape of housing.

What if any house could be built in 24 hours at a cost of 50% where we are today?

In the video, the CEO readily admits "we are not there yet". But they are getting closer.

Here is the scary part of all this for the existing market. This is technology, and it keeps advancing. The simple fact is they will get to a 50% costs point. Will it be this company? I cannot say that but I can state that someone will get there in the next few years.

Beyond that, what makes anyone think it will stop at 50%? Wouldn't the next level by 40%? Then 30%? How low can it go?

I remember when I started in the printing business, the average cost of a color page was 30 cents. It was developed on machines that costs $30,000 and produced 4 pages a minute. When I left the industry, the past was 3-4 cents, devices could print at 35 pages per minute and cost like a thousand dollars.

I foresee the 3D printer industry following suit. In fact, in the years that I watched it, we already saw print speeds in many areas increasing while costs came down. It is a trend we can expect to keep going.

In the video, it was noted how the difference between the original Vulcan and the Vulcan 2 was the speed of printer. The later saw an increase (although they did not say how much).

Using this same logic, what if the house (shell) didn't take a day but got to the point where an average-sized home could be done in 5 or 6 hours? What would that do to the market?

This all brings up questions about the existing housing market when taking a long-term perspective. Since housing has not changed much over the decades, people are conditioned to keep operating like they always did.

However, if my thesis is correct, and the construction of housing in a decade or two is a fraction of the cost that it is today, that would seriously impact the market of existing homes that people have a lot of capital in.

Could it be that buying a home is a crazy idea? If we are about to see a massive deflationary push due to technology, the idea of buying a house could be like having a computer that is 20 years old and expecting to get the same money as a new one sells for today.

Of course, there is the land component which could actually increase significantly if what I theorize does take place. Buying of homes will be for the land and not what is on them since the replacement will cost little to build. We see this done by the wealthy when they buy a house and rip it down. It was really the land that was desired.

A lot of questions but something to start thinking about.

// Posted from Steem.