The average Washington household earns $64,079, per the report, and the income required to qualify for a loan on a $430,000 home is $119,714

Brett Davis
The Center Square Washington

A new report put out by the Building Industry Association of Washington finds that median-priced homes in the state remain out of reach for a majority of families.

The Washington Housing Affordability Index builds on the annual National Association of Home Builders’ 2023 “Priced Out” report. The BIAW report calculates affordability based on the 30-year Federal Housing Administration mortgage loan product, as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Redfin and Zillow.

The BIAW report, which came out Wednesday, looks at the median costs of all homes – new and existing – in the Evergreen State. It finds 76 percent of Washington households are priced out of purchasing median-priced homes at $430,000.

The average Washington household earns $64,079, per the report, and the income required to qualify for a loan is $119,714.

The report notes that affordability varies depending on location in the state, with more affordable homes in Eastern Washington counties like Columbia, Ferry, Lincoln and Pend Oreille.

Conversely, counties with the least affordable homes include Island, San Juan, Kittitas, Kitsap, Jefferson, Skamania, Wahkiakum and Whatcom.

“The 2023 legislative session was a great first step to address many of the barriers preventing home builders from keeping up with the demand for new homes, but there’s still work to be done, not only at the state level, but in implementing the changes approved by the Legislature,” Janelle Guthrie, BIAW communications director, told The Center Square in an email. “We need to continue to work to ensure more Washington families at all levels have the opportunity to buy a home.”

Several home-building bills were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee, including permit reform, State Environmental Policy Act modifications and support for greater density and middle housing.

A March report from the state Department of Commerce found that the state needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years to keep up with expected population growth.

The BIAW report makes several more suggestions for improving the environment for building more homes in Washington, including expanding down payment assistance to households over 80% of the state’s average median income, reforming the state’s Growth Management Act, reviewing the state’s building codes to limit them to health and safety issues, and providing more certainty to builders at the state and local levels.

Inslee’s office told The Center Square that they’d yet to review the report but spokesperson Mike Faulk did refer to a blog on Inslee’s Medium platform detailing “the housing policy successes of the 2023 legislative session.”

Inslee has repeatedly framed a related problem – Washington’s burgeoning homeless population – as one of a lack of housing.

According to a 2022 “Point-in-Time Count” report by the Department of Commerce, more than 25,000 people are living on the street or in emergency and transitional housing across the state, an increase of 11% from 2020.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.