2017 will be a good year for housing supply. After 4 straight years of record-breaking numbers of new apartment units being added to the city, 2017 – with ~10,000 new units – will have about double the number of new housing units as the next best year. However, affordable housing advocates point out that few of the new units are being called affordable. We’ve noted that most new buildings coming on the market are pretty likely to include terms like “luxury,” “elite,” “prestigious” etc in its marketing, denoting higher-than-average rental prices, too. It appears that the new units that will be completed this year are likely to be pricey ones as well. Affordable housing advocates continue to push for more units to cater to average and below-average wage earners, but given the high price of land and development, it’s tough to see a non-government subsidized project build a high number of below-market priced rentals.
http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/we-will-see-the-biggest-seattle-rental-boom-in-history-this-year/480833666
