The City of Tacoma today released its Year One review of the Home in Tacoma initiative, revealing significant growth in housing development applications and a broader diversity of housing options for residents within areas previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes.
“The City is acting with urgency to help make housing more affordable for Tacoma residents,” said Mayor Anders Ibsen. “We’re proud of our progress to expand home ownership and add more housing options in our neighborhoods, but we are not letting up.”
Adopted as a cornerstone of the City’s Affordable Housing Action Strategy, Home in Tacoma replaced citywide single-family zoning with flexible Urban Residential zones (UR-1, UR-2, and UR-3) designed to accommodate smaller, more affordable housing types.
Comparing the first year of implementation (February 2025 – January 2026) to the average of the prior five years within these specific zones, the City saw a 39% increase in permit applications and a 62% increase in the number of proposed housing units, despite an overall slowdown in permitting activity across the region.
While the Year One data specifically tracks Home in Tacoma zones – and does not reflect concurrent residential growth in Downtown Tacoma or designated Mixed-Use Centers which operate under different zoning frameworks – it highlights a clear shift toward “missing middle” housing.
Single-family homes and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) remain popular, but townhouses, duplexes, and multi-family projects are now generating the highest number of proposed units in areas previously restricted to single-family detached houses. This new development is also distributed relatively evenly across Tacoma’s Urban Residential zones, supporting shared growth and new opportunities across Tacoma’s diverse neighborhoods.
Approximately 40% of permits are located in the North End and Eastside, and housing density (by number of units) is highest in the Eastside (25%), West End (21%), and South End (18%).
92% of the Year One applications are currently moving through the permitting and construction pipeline, and the City anticipates a steady delivery of completed homes over the coming years. The City is also continuously monitoring broader market challenges, such as national interest rates and construction costs, which impact builder timelines.
The City will launch a public-facing Home in Tacoma Online Data Dashboard in mid-2026, providing quarterly updates on housing production and permitting trends.
More information on Home in Tacoma, including the full Year One report, is available at tacoma.gov/homeintacoma.