Spokane Association of REALTORS® launches series of advocacy messages
Thanks to generous grants from the National Association of REALTORS® and Washington REALTORS® – we recently launched a series of video messages to help better explain the Spokane area real estate market and the challenges you may face in buying a home.
Why Is It So Hard to Buy a Home in Spokane?
Buying a home in the Spokane region can be an incredibly frustrating experience. There are two critical factors – rising costs and extremely limited supply.
Among the key driving factors:
- The Spokane area’s housing supply shortage is severe, with a 94% reduction in available homes for sale since 2010.
- This A lack of inventory has escalated the median home price in Spokane County 66.8% since 2015 with a median home increase from $179,000 (2015) to over $300,000 (2020). ($395,000 July 2021)
- From 2010 to 2019 the Spokane Region under built approximately 32,000 housing units to meet demand.
- A lack of inventory has led to thousands of families renting who cannot find a place to buy.
- Vacancies in regional rentals remains at a dangerous level below 1/2% (June 2021)
- The biggest lack of inventory lies in entry level or workforce housing.
Why Are Housing Prices Going Up So Fast?
The Spokane Association of REALTORS® wanted answers.
So we convened some of the top real estate experts in the nation, the region and from here in Spokane, who gave us the answers. Among their findings:
- The Spokane area’s housing supply is severe, with a 94% reduction in available homes for sale since 2010.
- A lack of inventory has escalated the median home price in Spokane County 66.8% since 2015 with a median home increase from $179,000 (2015) to over $300,000 (2020). ($380,000 June 2021)
- From 2010 to 2019 the Spokane Region under built approximately 32,000 housing units to meet demand.
- This has resulted in lost economic opportunity – $6-billion dollars in wages and employment since 2010, $1.1-billion dollars in immediate and ongoing tax revenues.
- A lack of inventory has led to thousands of families renting who cannot find a place to buy.•Vacancies in regional rentals remains at a dangerous level of around .5% (as of June 2021)
Why Spokane has such a Shortage of Homes?
Spokane has a housing problem, and experts tell us the city’s Centers and Corridors strategy has never worked in over 20 years. Adding that this restrictive local public policy has resulted in a severe lack of homes.
Among the key findings our experts report:
The Spokane area’s housing supply is severe, with a 94% reduction in available homes for sale since 2010.
- A lack of inventory has escalated the median home price in Spokane County 66.8% since 2015 with a median home increase from $179,000 (2015) to over $300,000 (2020). ($395,000 July 2021)
- From 2010 to 2019 the Spokane Region under built approximately 32,000 housing units to meet demand
- A lack of inventory has led to thousands of families renting who cannot find a place to buy.
- Vacancies in regional rentals remains at a dangerous level of around 1%. (.5% as of June 2021)
- The biggest lack of inventory lies in entry level or workforce housing.
- From personal health to family stress, to student performance in school, to increased levels of homelessness, Spokane’s lack of housing has triggered a severe impact on the health of our citizens –especially among families of color and families with children.
Is the American Dream of Home Ownership Slipping Away in Spokane?
The Spokane Association of REALTORS remains concerned that low inventories are pricing Spokane OUT of Spokane.
Here are the facts:
- Home ownership rates continue to fall with the bulk of new construction aimed at building rentals
- The national average for home ownership is 67% and rising. While in Spokane, that number has now fallen to around 58%
- The Spokane Region is among the top places to move in the country with expected growth of 48,000 more people by the year 2030.
- Many new home buyers are migrating from larger West coast markets adding 8-to-14,000 new residents annually
- A lack of inventory has escalated the median home price in Spokane County 66.8% since 2015 with a median home increase from $179,000 (2015) to over 380,000 (June 2021)
- From 2010 to 2019 the Spokane Region under built approximately 32,000 housing units to meet demand.
- A lack of inventory has led to thousands of families renting who cannot find a place to buy.
- The biggest lack of inventory lies in entry level or workforce housing.
CLICK HERE to learn more
Are Spokane’s Housing Policies Bad for the Environment?
Spokane has long enjoyed the biggest share of the Spokane/Coeur d’ Alene housing market, as much as 80% a recent as 2010. But today, the bulk of those homes are now being build across the border in Idaho. Between 50-70% of all new homes can now be found in Kootenai County.
The result is that more people from Spokane are buying homes there, but still commuting back to work back to Spokane. Traffic jams are now common along Interstate 90 – with as many as 30,000 more cars commuting ever day.
That’s a lot of CO2 emissions.
We believe a better way would be to build more homes here in Spokane, near where people work and play.