In the first few years after World War II, there were critical shortages of building materials. This was caused by strikes and the retooling of industry from War Production to the production of consumer goods. It was exacerbated by the rapid demobilization of the American Armed Forces and the pent up demand for new housing. The Depression and World War II curtailed new housing construction for fifteen years. The nearly full employment, rationing and the absence of consumer goods during World War II led to the highest savings rate in American history. There was a strong demand for new housing after 1945 that out-stripped the supply of building materials until 1949.
The singer Peggy Lee writes about this in her auto-biography. Her husband was discharged from the US Navy in May 1947. They began to build a new house in July 1947, but it took them twenty eight months to finish that medium sized, three bed room house.
American railroad companies wanted to buy new stream lined passenger trains, but their efforts were delayed by critical shortages in linoleum flooring and bath room fixtures.
Sources "Decade of the Trains: the 1940s" by Don Ball jr and Roger Whitaker.
"Miss Peggy Lee: An Autobiography"