Contact: data@mbaks.com

Housing Production Slows Across the Seattle Metro Area

Building activity across the Seattle metro has cooled this year. As of August, 4,390 single-family homes and 4,770 multifamily units have been permitted—representing year-over-year declines of 5% and 26%. In Seattle, 406 single-family and 1,700 multifamily permits have been issued to date.

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On October 24, 2025, more than 80 volunteers braved the rain to plant 64 new trees at Paramount School Park in Shoreline for Planting a Better Tomorrow. In partnership with the City of Shoreline, MBAKS members joined residents and city staff to make a meaningful and lasting environmental impact.

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Despite the downpour, the park was filled with energy, laughter, and teamwork as volunteers dug, planted, and transformed a gray morning into a day of purpose. Their efforts directly support the City of Shoreline’s goal of growing tree canopy coverage to 40% by 2050.

Before the event, Paramount School Park had just 9% canopy coverage, making it one of the most underserved green spaces in the city. Every tree planted improves air quality, increases shade, supports stormwater management, and contributes to a healthier, more resilient community.

Shoreline City Councilmember Betsy Robertson, who joined the effort, shared her enthusiasm:

“I live in this neighborhood and I'm thrilled. This is increasing our tree canopy. It's creating shade in a very, very popular park. It's going to help with water runoff and so many environmental benefits. We just love having partnerships and opportunities like this in our town.”

A Growing Legacy

Since launching Planting a Better Tomorrow in 2024, MBAKS and our partners have planted 139 trees with the help of more than 130 volunteers—essentially one tree for every person who has pitched in. The program was created to help members and community partners make measurable environmental contributions while deepening connections across the region.

MBAKS Executive Director Jerry Hall captured the heart of the program:

“This is about more than planting trees. It’s about planting hope. We believe everybody deserves a place to call home, and no home can be a great home without a great environment.”

Media Spotlight

We’re grateful to KING 5 for joining us onsite to cover the day’s work and highlight the collective effort to grow greener, healthier spaces across our region.

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Looking Ahead

Next up, MBAKS members and volunteers will trade their shovels for paintbrushes at Painting a Better Tomorrow on Saturday, November 15, 2025. This year’s project will support Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, where volunteers will refresh the facility with a much-needed coat of paint and a renewed sense of hope.

Together, we’re proving that when communities unite—whether to plant, paint, or build—we can create lasting, positive change.

MBAKS hosted our annual Housing Solutions Breakfast on October 14 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. This year’s program focused on unlocking housing supply and featured Justine Underhill, economist, journalist, filmmaker, and Falls Church, Virgina Council Member, as our keynote speaker.

Justine shared valuable insights on how to use storytelling to convey the benefits of increased housing supply. She also showed examples of her videos explaining why housing at every level helps improve affordability. Visit Justine’s YouTube channel to learn more about her work.

“We’re grateful so many members and public officials could be part of this important conversation on ways we can work together to make home happen,” said MBAKS Government Affairs Director Jennifer Anderson.

As part of the program, MBAKS recognized Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County as our Housing Solutions Community Partner of the Year.

Here are some Housing Solutions resources MBAKS shared at the event:

• MBAKS’s 2026 Legislative Priorities
• MBAKS’s Housing Toolkit

We encourage members to keep the momentum going by attending our monthly Builder Council meetings, following legislative updates on MBAKS Connect, and voting for pro-housing candidates on Election Day November 4.

Your voice matters. By staying engaged, you help amplify our collective efforts to advance housing solutions and make home happen for everyone.

View Housing Solutions Breakfast Photos 

Contact: data@mbaks.com

Permit activity continues to trend downward across the Seattle metro area.

Through July 2025, King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties collectively issued 3,742 single-family permits, a 7% decline compared to the same period in 2024. Multifamily permitting has slowed even more sharply, with 3,758 units permitted year-to-date, a 37% drop from last year. These figures highlight ongoing headwinds in the housing pipeline at a time when demand remains elevated.

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MBAKS members showed up in record numbers for our September 18 General Membership Networking (GMN), making it our largest GMN yet.

The evening was full of connections, conversations, and celebration as we unveiled our brand-new annual print magazine, Blueprints. Guests also got a sneak peek of what’s to come at this year’s end-of-year party.

A big thank you to our sponsors—Italian Custom Cabinets, Pella, and Capital Benefit Services—for making the evening possible.

Don’t miss your chance to join us at the final GMN of 2025 on October 16. Mark your calendars today!

Contact: Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties | pr@mbaks.com

NEW REPORTS SHOW LOCAL POLICIES UNDERMINE HOUSING GOALS

SEATTLE, Wash., August 27, 2025 – The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) released two new reports showing how certain local policies are falling short as an effective affordable housing strategy. The reports provide technical information for local policymakers to support successful implementation of state laws aimed at lowering barriers for construction of more homes of all types.

The first report – Mandatory Affordable Housing Fees Carry Unintended Consequences – finds that such fees disproportionately raise barriers to middle housing projects, often making them financially infeasible and preventing them from being built. It also critiques a report relied upon by many Eastside cities to update and adopt mandatory affordable housing fees.

The second report – How Nexus Studies Misunderstand the Affordable Housing Challenge – highlights a core flaw in the logic underpinning many nexus studies local jurisdictions rely upon to justify imposing mandatory affordable housing fees. This report refutes the assumption that new market-rate housing is the primary driver of the need for affordable housing, in part because this framework ignores the broader supply shortage. It also shows that if newer homes cannot be built, higher-income owners and renters remain in what would historically be lower-cost homes accessible to more people, including first time buyers.

“The reports provide information for policymakers supporting how well-intentioned mandatory affordable housing programs can be counterproductive to achieving more affordable housing,” said Jerry Hall, executive director of MBAKS. “They also illustrate how these programs limit progress on our shared work to ensure everyone has a place to call home. The reports show that we do not address the need for affordable housing by making housing more expensive.”

MBAKS commissioned ECOnorthwest, an independent public policy research firm, to prepare the reports to better inform local dialogue on affordable housing strategies. They are part of a series of reports from MBAKS demonstrating flaws in mandatory affordable housing policies.

MBAKS has also prepared a Legal Memorandum describing the implications of mandatory affordable housing fees under recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding “unconstitutional conditions.” It explains how mandatory programs raise constitutional issues under the rulings requiring a showing of a “nexus” and “rough proportionality.” 

ABOUT MBAKS
The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) is the nation’s oldest and largest local homebuilders association, helping to make home happen since 1909. 

Contact: data@mbaks.com

Builder Confidence Remains Low in August

Builder confidence in the housing market slipped to 32 nationally in August, an 18% decline from last year, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. In the West, sentiment was even weaker, with an HMI reading of 26, underscoring the region’s ongoing affordability and housing challenges. 

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Contact: data@mbaks.com

Puget Sound Population Surge Led by Seattle, King County

As of April 1, 2025, the Puget Sound region reached a population of 4,534,300, growing by 50,400 people over the past year. This growth was led overwhelmingly by King County, which added 33,600 residents—accounting for two-thirds of the region's total increase. Seattle alone contributed nearly 19,000 new residents, surpassing 816,000 and outpacing the combined growth of Snohomish and Pierce counties. While Snohomish (+6,700) and Pierce (+7,300) counties saw steady, modest increases, growth in transit-connected suburbs like Shoreline and Redmond stood out. Kitsap County grew by 2,800, maintaining its trend of stable, moderate expansion. Overall, the region’s growth reflects continued urban and transit-oriented population shifts, even as statewide growth slows compared to previous years.

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Reports Highlight Flaws in Mandatory Affordable Housing Fees

by MBAKS Government Affairs

Two new reports from ECOnorthwest shed light on key shortcomings in inclusionary zoning policies and the nexus studies often used to justify mandatory affordable housing requirements on new market-rate development.

MBAKS commissioned ECOnorthwest, an independent third-party public policy research firm, to prepare these reports in support of more informed local dialogue around affordable housing strategies.

The first report, Mandatory Affordable Housing Fees Carry Unintended Consequences, examines the real-world impacts of imposing affordable housing fees without corresponding incentives. It finds that mandatory affordable housing fees, though well-intentioned, disproportionately affect middle housing projects, often tipping them from risky to infeasible and preventing them from being built altogether. 

The second, How Nexus Studies Misunderstand the Affordable Housing Challenge, highlights a core flaw in the logic underpinning many nexus studies: the assumption that new market-rate housing is the primary driver of demand for affordable housing. The report describes several issues with this assumption, arguing that the framework used to justify mandatory inclusionary requirements misrepresents the true dynamics of housing markets. It does so by ignoring the broader supply shortage and the filtering process through which new housing helps ease pressure on lower-cost homes. By attributing the affordability crisis to new development rather than to structural undersupply, nexus studies risk reinforcing policies that further constrain housing production—ultimately exacerbating the very problem they aim to solve.

The ECOnorthwest reports reinforce the need to continue advancing solutions that increase supply at all levels. MBAKS is committed to being a collaborative partner in addressing the region’s housing shortage so our communities can be more affordable and inclusive for all.