By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Housing data contained in the latest Builders Bulletin show single-family and multifamily permits are down in the three-county Puget Sound region through February 2019, compared to the first two months of 2018. Single-family permits fell 25% and multifamily permits were down 7%. The notable exceptions are multifamily permit activity in Snohomish and Pierce counties, which rose 79% and 25%, respectively. Multifamily permits fell 24% in King County, causing the regionwide total to go negative. Meanwhile, the month’s supply of housing inventory is below two months in both King and Snohomish counties as of March.

The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, State of the Cities Data Systems, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

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The Rolls-Royce and the Ferrari parked in front of a real estate sales office in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood Wednesday night were the first indication that this was no normal "house party."

The line of blue-jacketed valets, the red carpet and rope line, the doorman with a list of registered guests, the wine bar, the gourmet hors d'oeuvres, the black-tie-wearing servers, the mini pop-up shop for custom-tailored men's suits—all of that was a pretty good signal, too.

A decidedly less stereotypical Seattle—sans the hiking and rain gear that usually defines us to the world—actually dressed up and turned out to mingle and tour a mock floor plan for a luxury condominium development called Nexus.

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

The December edition of The Builder's Bulletin is now available. The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report: