Affordable Housing

It’s been quite the run for Seattle. Like many secondary markets out West, the Emerald City was a pandemic darling, racking up loads of new residents and workers over the past few years. Seattle-area employers added more than 102,600 workers in 2021 alone, according to Marcus & Millichap’s second-quarter market report, which predicts the area will add another 85,000 workers by year’s end. The report also forecasts Seattle’s population will increase by more than 220,000 residents over the next five years. All this activity has led to a bull run for multifamily owners, investors and developers. Net absorption in Seattle’s central business district surpassed the 5,000-unit mark for the first time on record last year, while rents have risen by 14 percent year over year. Demand was so fierce that all 20 of the metro’s submarkets recorded vacancy compression over the past four quarters, resulting in an average 2.8 percent vacancy rate, according to Marcus & Millichap. This is the lowest rate in two decades. Nearly 9,000 units — representing 1.9 percent of the supply — were added over the 12-month period that ended in March, with another 25,000 units still under construction at the end of the second quarter. …