Latest
Updated this week: goal pace, homes in the pipeline, permits by year, construction dollars, projects in review, housing mix and New on file (City data through Nov. 3). Not yet updated: rents and home values (August data).
A $2.8M roof replacement filed for the Mount Baker Theatre
Filed Oct. 28A building permit application, in City review
A permit to replace the roof of the Mount Baker Theatre at 104 N Commercial St in City Center was filed Oct. 28. It lists about $2.8M in declared construction value, the most of any filing this week. No filing this week adds 4 or more homes. A filing is not an approval. The permit is still in City review.
Source: City building permit record BLD2026-0830 (City of Bellingham ArcGIS, data through Nov. 3).
Also this week: 2 houses and a backyard cottage filed, and 19 apartments permitted
Smaller filings: two new houses on Brookstone Dr in Whatcom Falls (filed Nov. 3, about $1M declared combined), a garage turned into a backyard cottage on Coolidge Dr in Cornwall Park, and a design review for an infill project on 40th St in Samish. Record: City building permit records filed after Oct. 27.
Permitted, not a new filing: a 19-home apartment building at 1101 10th St in Fairhaven (permit issued Oct. 29, about $3.7M declared). Record: building permit.
Last week: the 12-unit apartment building proposed at 2913 Alderwood Ave in Birchwood (DR2026-0040) is still in review.
As of Nov. 5, 2026 (City data through Nov. 3). How we pick
Are we building enough?
Progress toward the 2045 planning target, from application to move-in.
Since 2023, permits are running 29% below an even pace to the 2045 target
Bellingham and its growth area are planning for 18,390 new homes between 2023 and 2045, about 836 a year.
The City plans, zones and issues permits. Private and nonprofit builders decide what gets built and when, so pace also rides on interest rates, construction costs, labor and demand.
Counting since Jan. 2023, that's about 940 fewer homes than a steady 836 a year would give by now.
How to read this
Last 30 days: 200 homes permitted, almost 3 times the roughly 70 a month of an even pace. Three apartment buildings with 135 homes between them got permits in that time.
Permitting since 2023 is running 29% below an even pace. The target doesn't require a straight line, so "even pace" is our yardstick, not the County's. Permits are not finished homes, and the target also includes the unincorporated growth area outside city limits, which this City data doesn't cover.
Whatcom County housing allocation, revised March 2026. Progress: City permit database, pulled Nov. 5, 2026 (data through Nov. 3). Our counts for 2023 and 2024 land within 4% of the City dashboard figures reported by Cascadia Daily News in December 2025.
As of Nov. 3, 2026. Method
946 homes are under construction; 650 more await permits
Last 30 days: 17 homes applied for, 200 permitted, 116 finished.
How to read this
Counted by unit. Over 6 months, finished homes are running about 10% above an even pace to the target (roughly 920 a year against 836). Three apartment buildings got permits in the past 2 weeks: 74 senior homes in the Lettered Streets (Oct. 23), 42 homes in King Mountain (Oct. 26) and 19 homes in Fairhaven (Oct. 29).
As of Nov. 3, 2026. City permit database, updated weekly. Method
4 more charts on building: permits by year, construction dollars, projects in review, permit wait times
Each year since 2023 has come in below an even pace to the target
Dashed line: 836 a year, an even pace to the 2045 target. Percentages compare each year from 2023 on to that line. *2026 through Nov. 3, compared with the same share of a year. Permits issued, not homes finished. The target period starts in 2023.
How to read this
Calculated from the City permit database.
As of Nov. 3, 2026. Method
Housing is about half of the $339M under construction
NewThe construction value builders declare on their permits
$182M of it is housing. Most of the other $157M is one $133M hospital expansion in Cornwall Park.
How to read this
The hospital permit is most of the gap. Without it, 2025 was at $223M by this date, about 12% more than this year.
Declared value is the builder's estimate of construction cost, which the City uses to set permit fees. It leaves out land and isn't a sale price or assessed value.
City permit database, the same data behind the City's Development Dashboard; latest permit issued Nov. 3.
As of Nov. 3, 2026. Method
68 development projects are in City review
Counts projects, not homes.
How to read this
A pre-application is the first step before a developer files. The City's data shows no pre-applications after Feb. 12, 2026, so that bar may be out of date.
City development projects data, updated weekly.
As of Nov. 4, 2026. Method
90% of permit decisions met the state deadline in 2024
2024 dataLatest the City has posted
- Total time, including waits on the applicant
- City's time only
How to read this
The City's 2025 report was due to the state in March 2026 but isn't posted on the City's page yet. We'll update this when it is.
2024 decisions. Method
What we have, and who it's for
The homes Bellingham has, and who the new ones are for.
53 daysuntil Bellingham's interim middle housing rules expire Dec. 4. No extension or replacement is scheduled. The order
Bellingham has added about 1,220 residents a year; the plan expects 1,200
Population growth is what the City plans homes for: the 2045 housing target below is built on a forecast like this one.
How to read this
Growth figures are city limits only. The renter share is a five-year survey estimate, so it moves slowly and has a margin of error.
State Office of Financial Management small area estimates and the 2025 Bellingham Comprehensive Plan, as reported on the City's housing statistics page; renter share from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey (table B25003), same page.
2025 estimates; survey 2020–2024. The comprehensive plan
Two-thirds of the 2045 target is for lower-income households
12,277 of the 18,390 homes are for households earning 80% of area median income or less.
How to read this
Permit data doesn't record affordability, so we can't yet track progress by income. Most homes below 80% of median need public money to build; the next chart shows the City's estimate of that gap.
Whatcom County housing allocation, revised March 2026. Changes only when the County revises it. Also planned: 299 emergency housing beds.
Set March 2026. Method
The City estimates homes under 50% of median need $130M+ a year more than it has
NewWhat it would take to fund the lower-income share of the target
Homes for households earning under half of median don't get built without public money. The City puts the cost at $475,000 to $500,000 or more per home, and the need at about 220 more funded homes a year.
How to read this
The $15M is 2024: $3.4M from the voter-approved Home Fund, $5.2M from the housing sales tax, $1.3M in federal grants, $1.3M from the General Fund and real estate tax, and $4M in one-time federal pandemic money. It leaves out state funds and tax-credit equity, which projects also draw on.
This is the City's own estimate from its housing plan, not our calculation. It covers development costs only, not the services some residents need.
City of Bellingham, "Bellingham's Approach to HB 1220", its housing element's funding appendix filed with the state.
2024 funding, 2025 dollars. Method
2 more charts: types of homes, rental inspections
Middle housing is about 12% of Bellingham's 51,800 homes
- Houses, townhouses & ADUs45.4%
- Buildings with 7+ units30.3%
- 2 to 6 unit buildings11.6%
- Dorms & group housing5.6%
- Mixed-use4.5%
- Mobile & manufactured2.6%
Duplexes through sixplexes, the "middle housing" state law now allows on most residential lots, hold about 6,000 of the city's homes.
How to read this
City housing stock data, updated monthly. Estimated units, grouped by building type.
As of Oct. 30, 2026. Method
Private inspectors check almost as many rentals as the City
About 21,500 registered rental units in all.
How to read this
The City's program requires periodic safety inspections, and owners can use a private inspector instead.
As of Oct. 10, 2026. City rental registration data. Method
What it costs to live here
Rent and home prices for Whatcom County, monthly.
Rents are up 2.5% in a year; home values are flat
How to read this
Zillow's indexes for the Bellingham metro area, which covers all of Whatcom County. The rent index tracks asking rents on new listings, not what current tenants pay.
, Zillow Observed Rent Index and Home Value Index, monthly.
August 2026 Method
The City's own dashboards
The sources behind this page, if you want to dig in yourself.
- Development dashboardEvery development project in City review, on a map. Updated weekly.
- Construction permit activityBuilding permits issued, by type and month. Updated weekly.
- Urban village statusHomes and commercial space built or planned in each urban village.
- Housing statisticsHousing types by neighborhood, population, owning and renting.
- Rental registration searchLook up a rental's registration and inspection results by address.
- Permit performance reportsHow long permit reviews take, reported to the state each year.
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