Thanks for providing the data. I think that backs up my assertion that Seattle doesn't have a housing shortage as such.
The relative growth in housing units since 2010 has been higher than the relative growth in population and jobs, so housing price growth since 2010 can't be explained by a shortage of supply.
The issue is that the rapid pace of growth means there isn't much old stock housing on the market to provide cheaper options to homebuyers -- most of the housing on the market will be new stock for which the minimum price will be driven by the cost of construction.
I've been seeing that housing supply / demand and pricing is complicated by many other factors beyond population. It can less or more obvious depending on location.
I've watched one of my favorite cities housing go crazy because of many factors including investors buying up properties for airbnb, developers focusing on catering to the coming influx of higher paid amazon / oracle people, and so many betting on those future increases that everything else goes up.
Adding to that, becoming a popular place for people to buy a second (or third / fourth home) - whether it's for a temporary move, to shelter their kids going to college who have chosen here instead of Chicago, trying a lower tax place to move with remote work being easier post 2020, etc..
Good point about new construction costing more, and that in itself has many factors. and depending on exactly when things were purchased making big differences.
With the limited supply of builders, most are choosing to build more expensive places.
Sadly even if we made this place less attractive for people to move to, many of the properties wouldn't go on the market, many would just hold on to the property as a stable investment.
So population numbers are not the primary weight in the supply / demand equation in many places is something I have been learning.
The relative growth in housing units since 2010 has been higher than the relative growth in population and jobs, so housing price growth since 2010 can't be explained by a shortage of supply.
The issue is that the rapid pace of growth means there isn't much old stock housing on the market to provide cheaper options to homebuyers -- most of the housing on the market will be new stock for which the minimum price will be driven by the cost of construction.