By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

The latest Builders Bulletin shows year-to-date permit activity through April fell 18% for single-family homes and 37% for multifamily homes in King County compared to the same period last year. Single-family permits were up 6% and multifamily permits up 60% in Snohomish County. Pierce County saw a 5% drop in multifamily permits and a 21% increase in single-family permits. Meanwhile, the May jobs report shows construction employment increased by 30,000 between April and May, reflecting a gain from the previous month’s significant job losses due to the construction shutdown.

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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Contact: data@mbaks.com

In September 2024, Washington's unemployment rate stood at 4.8%, with the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area slightly lower at 4.4%. Between September 2023 and September 2024, construction employment in the state saw a boost, adding 4,700 jobs, bringing the total to 236,600.

Read the full October Builders Bulletin

By Noah Haglund, The Everett Herald

Everett, Wash.—A united Snohomish County Council passed a budget Monday that staves off most public safety cuts with help from a modest property tax increase.

The spending plan for 2017 followed the contours that council Chairman Terry Ryan had recommended a week earlier. Ryan's budget, in turn, hewed closely to a $238 million plan that Executive Dave Somers unveiled in September, though the council softened cuts to key sheriff's office programs.