The Census Bureau has just released its newest estimates of housing units by state, and Massachusetts is pretty far down the list in terms of creating new homes. You can view or download the complete data here.

Massachusetts gained 113,439 housing units from April 2000 to July 2008, for an increase in total housing stock of 4.3 percent. The national increase was 11.4 percent, and the Bay State ranked 46th in growth, ahead of Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont, and Rhode Island (none of which can be considered our economic competitors). Nevada, Arizona, and Utah added housing at the fastest rates, but Florida added the most in raw numbers (1.5 million!).

During the shorter (and much more sluggish) period of July 2007 to July 2008, Massachusetts ranked 45th among the states in housing creation (46th if you count the District of Columbia). We added 9,268 during that one-year period,  for a bump of 0.3 percent vs. the national figure of 0.9 percent. Only Pennsylvania,  Connecticut, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Michigan were lower. (At least we’re ahead of bigger states now.) Michigan’s housing units rose from 4,528,887 to 4,535,323 – enough to trigger a recount if it were an election. Given that these are estimates, is it possible that Michigan is actually losing housing units?

Nevada, Utah, and Arizona remained the top three in housing gains by percentages, but Texas overtook foreclosure-plagued Florida for the title of most units built: 168,009 in one year.