Seattle's frenetic growth may actually be slowing down

The number of people arriving in Seattle has dropped by more than a third. A year ago, 74 people were arriving in the city of Seattle daily, now the number is 46 people, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council. 

It’s another sign that the frenetic pace of growth may be behind us. Not as many buyers are looking for houses and apartments have been pouring onto the market, cooling the rent increases.

James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research, said the boom is still on and it’s not clear when it will end.

“How much more it has to go depends on the demand for property and people continuing to move into the area,” Young said.

And affordability is still not around the corner. The Seattle City Council is not expect to act on its multi-neighborhood upzoning proposal until January. That proposal includes a mandatory affordable housing requirement.  

Young said that pushes any real improvement in affordability a little further into the future.

“With the time it takes to construct developments, you’re not going to see those changes in the marketplace for another one, two, maybe five years,” he said.

That’s if the proposal survives a legal challenge, which was in its 11th day of hearings as of Monday.