85% of Washington unable to purchase median-priced home
May 9, 2022
The Building Industry Association of Washington has released a new report showing only 15% of Washington could afford to purchase a median-priced home. The report follows a previous report that examined the price of new homes only.
Median-priced home is $643,400
As of March 2022, the median sales price of all homes in Washington as reported by Redfin was $643,400—more than $200,000 higher than the median home price in the US.
For every $1,000 in added fees or other costs, more than 4,000 more households are priced out.
In 27 of the state’s 39 counties, more than 80 % of the households can’t afford a median-priced home. And in six counties, fewer than 10% of the households can afford to buy a median-priced home.
“This report is alarming and should be a wake-up call to every elected official in our state,” said BIAW Executive Vice President Greg Lane. “Home ownership shouldn’t be limited only to the most wealthy. But that’s what the housing, growth and land-use policies of the last 20 years have created.
“It’s time to reverse the tide and provide more equity in access to home ownership,” he said. “That’s going to require policy makers and state leaders to make the housing crisis a priority and find ways to cut the costs of building homes in Washington and dramatically increase the supply of homes to buy.”
Cut the Costs
BIAW has launched a new education campaign to help potential homebuyers better understand some of the hidden costs of home ownership driven by decades of restrictions, regulations and red tape in Washington. The Cut the Costs campaign urges policymakers to balance their desire for new regulations against the need for homes people can afford.
Read more:
Support the cause
- Like and follow @cutthecosts on Facebook
- Follow us cutthecosts on Instagram
- Subscribe to our CutTheCosts channel on YouTube.
- Share our content with friends!
- Send your ideas for new content to communications@biaw.com.