That's a fairly accurate observation for Fairbanks as well. Cabins and houses seem to have more people in them. There may be a few new structures here and there, but the building boom of a couple years ago has flattened out. There sure are a lot of cars around, easily double what it was five years ago, yet the Bureau of Census says population is holding steady. Also, the pupil enrollment at k-12 is holding or actually decreasing. We are not seeing an increase of child-bearing families, but people are flooding in, perhaps anticipating another oil boom, and enrollment at the university is up, up, and up.
People want to buy homes of moderate price, they are desperate to buy homes, but in the meantime they rent and share rents.
Official numbers don't agree with my observation, and I think they aren't getting the picture right.
A follow up to your observation. How can anyone trust the census now that it has been politically skewed by the Bush I and Klintoon administrations? If I were a Director of Statistics at a major lending institution, I would advise against so, that's for sure.