Colorado’s population rose by almost 102,000 people last year, but the state added only 25,143 new homes, condos and apartments to accommodate those newcomers, according to updated estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The division of those two numbers explains the multiplication of headaches for anyone trying to buy or rent a home along the northern Front Range: The average household size in Colorado is 2.5 people. That means the state should have added 40,500 housing units. Instead, it is running 15,000 homes short of where it should be, adding to a deficit that has been mounting since 2012.

“This is a perfect cocktail for a really bad housing outcome,” Washington-based housing economist Elliot Eisenberg said. “There is no solution except building more houses, but no one is going to do it.”  Read the Story

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