The U.S. housing market, a key economic driver, is exceedingly tight, with supply struggling to meet demand as the sector recovers a decade after the housing crisis, analysts say. But persistent and pent-up demand among would-be homeowners could spur builders to boost construction, helping to ease pressure on the market for new homes. Inventory of homes for sale has remained stagnant even while the pace of sales returns to pre-crisis levels.

"What I hear from realtors pretty much across the country is that if they had more inventory they could make more sales," Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said.

Home sales jumped in January, with sales of existing homes rising 3.3 percent, the fastest monthly rate since early 2007, while sales of new homes increased nearly four percent, with buyers in the Northeast snapping up the largest volume of single-family houses in nine years. While demand has been bolstered by steady job creation and a pickup in wages in 2016, that exuberance has not translated into an increased supply of houses available.