Seattle’s Inflation Hits Hard With Rising Housing Costs

We are all afraid of it, it's the “I” word. You can't watch TV, you can't read the newspaper, you can't go anywhere without hearing about the possible inflation that is coming to the U.S. Look, no economy is static, and what's happening in one state is not necessarily happening in another state. 

Let's look at Seattle. 

According to axios.com,
‘Seattle had the largest short-term jump in prices of any metro studied: a 1.4% CPI increase from April to June, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo tells Axios.
That, combined equally with the city's 2.7% CPI change over the past year, was enough to push the city to the top, per Lupo.’ 

High housing costs are already an issue in Seattle. Now add to that small jumps in prices on other goods and services. Let's put this into perspective though, even though being number one on the inflation list kind of makes your eyes pop out, (especially if you live in Seattle.) The actual rate of inflation is about the same as the rest of the country. 

So, in the short term, prices are rising more rapidly in Seattle, but in the long term, not so much. Seattle has a few issues that are the root of the current problem. 

High mortgage rates make it nearly impossible for homeowners to sell. 

Builders are having to deal with zoning regulations and restrictions that make it expensive to build houses. 

Combine all that with a steady demand for housing in the Seattle area, and prices are going to go up. 

So, I guess then the true cause of Seattle being the number one city for inflation in the United States is not that prices are going up, but the cost of housing is going up.  

A recent study shows that Seattle had the sharpest short-term increase in prices of any metro in this study, a 1.4% CPI increase from April to June. When you take that number and add to it the annual CPI rate of 2.7%, That gives Seattle that #1 rating. 

I don't believe that there's any economic magic bullet that's going to fix this issue in the short term. If you're living in Seattle, all you can do right now is hang on to your socks and ride it out.
Seattle sees steepest short-term inflation spike among U.S. cities - Axios Seattle
Coverage of inflation from Axios - Axios