6/8/2022
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The Spokesman-Review
Record housing prices hit Spokane County
KREM
KXLY
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The Spokesman-Review
Record housing prices hit Spokane County
By Amy Edelen
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Buyers continued to find homes more expensive than ever in Spokane County as the median closing price hit $450,000 in May, but there are signs the market may cool.
The median closing price for homes and condos on less than 1 acre in May was a 20% increase compared to the $375,000 median in May 2021, according to data from the Spokane Association of Realtors.
The county’s previous alltime high median sales price was $430,000 in March.
Spokane Association of Realtors Executive Officer Rob Higgins said while he found last month’s record-breaking median price surprising, he anticipates steep price increases in the county to moderate later in the year.
“We’ll still see year-over-year increases, obviously, but I don’t think they will be close to 20% ,” Higgins said.
Last month’s median price reflects sales that occurred in April, when the market saw brisk demand from buyers looking to lock in lower interest rates, he added.
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“With the mortgage rate increases, I think we’ll see that start to impact closed sales in June and July,” Higgins said.
Mortgage rates continued to inch downward last week, but remain significantly higher than last year, affecting affordability and purchase demand, Freddie Mac reported.
“Heading into the summer, the potential homebuyer pool has shrunk, supply is on the rise and the housing market is normalizing,” Freddie Mac wrote in its weekly mortgage rate report. “This is welcome news following unprecedented market tightness over the last couple years.”
As of Thursday, the 30-year average mortgage rate was 5.09% and the 15-year average was 4.32%, according to Freddie Mac.
With a 10% down payment of $45,000 and a 30-year mortgage, buyers would be looking at a monthly payment of $2,651 for a $450,000 home, according to Mortgagecalculator. org. With a 20% down payment of $90,000, buyers can expect to pay around $2,238 per month.
Downtown Spokane had the greatest median closing price at $677,500 in May – reflecting four sales – followed by a $482,500 median in Spokane Valley and $472,500 in south Spokane. The median on the West Plains was $455,995, while north Spokane’s median was $400,000, according to the Realtors association.
Developers are looking to capitalize on larger lot sizes and vacant land with space for subdivisions in Spokane Valley, Taelor Fayette, said broker with Professional Realty Services and lead Realtor of Impact Real Estate.
“Developers are playing to our needs by finding room to build, and the homes they build are costing more because of the overall inflation in materials,” Fayette said. “So the Valley has more homes at higher prices.”
North Spokane has been popular among first-time homebuyers, some of whom were able to take advantage of low interest rates in the past few years, Fayette said.
In Spokane County, 633 single-family homes and condos on less than 1 acre sold in May, a 10.8% decrease compared to 710 homes in May 2021, according to data from the Spokane Association of Realtors.
Fayette anticipates interest rates will continue to rise, resulting in an uptick in available homes that will remain on the market longer.
The local market is transitioning from a place where buyers had little to no power in negotiating prices to now having a seat at the table, Fayette said.
“I’m having conversations with clients and industry peers daily,” she said. “I’m reassuring them that their fear of a fall ought to shift to awareness of a leveling of the playing field.”
The county had 955 new listings in May, a 14.9% increase compared to 831 new listings in May 2021.
The county also had less than a month of inventory in May. That means it would take less than a month to sell all the available homes on the market.
However, inventory last month was up 93.1% when compared to May 2021.
The national median existing home price for all housing types in April was $391,200, up 14.9% from $340,700 in April 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors. May data will be released later this month.
Fayette encourages buyers to prepare for buying a home. That includes ensuring financing is in place and optimizing credit to obtain the best interest rate, she said.
“We may not see 15%year-over-year price growth, but Spokane is still one of the most affordable and desired places to live,” she said. “More people will move here and be a part of a healthy growth rate in our economy and population. Our focus as a community needs to be on sustaining that growth well.” Amy Edelen can be reached at (509) 459-5581 or at amye@spokesman. com.
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KREM
CDA2030, an Idaho non-profit, surveyed Kootenai County residents and found some people were spending 51% of their income on rent payments.
Spokane County assessed property values are up 30%; here's what this means for your 2023 property taxes
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho —
CDA2030, an Idaho non-profit, surveyed residents in Kootenai County and found some people were spending over half their income on rent payments.
Executive Director JJ O'Dell called the housing issue a "complex issue."
"I wish we could wave a magic wand to solve it," O'Dell said. "It's difficult, but there are a lot of people working on it, trying to find solutions, so that's the good thing."
The survey reported a 71% increase in average rent prices for Kootenai County. In May 2017, renters paid an average of $989 a month. Now, renters are paying an average of $1,695 a month.
Residents at Lakeside Village, an equal opportunity housing complex in Coeur d’Alene, pay a slightly discounted rate.
Khristina Tevis and her three daughters have been Lakeside Village residents for three years. She said she’s lucky to have found available and affordable housing.
“I pay $919 a month for a three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath," Tevis said. "And that’s like a miracle here in Coeur d’Alene. If I was anywhere else, I would probably be paying double that, if not more.”
The Coeur d’Alene association of realtors found the average rent in Kootenai County in December 2021 was over $1,400 a month.
Tevis is paying less, but she said she’s seen her friends struggle to find places to live firsthand.
“Some of them are just planning on honestly going couch surfing or living out of their cars for the summer,” Tevis said.
Now, it’s not as easy as for Tevis's friends to get into affordable housing.
“My understanding is that there’s a huge wait list," Tevis said. "I’ve actually recommended this place to a few of my friends and they just tell me the wait list is ridiculous.”
A property manager in CDA2030’s Kootenai County survey said its low-income housing wait list is one to two years.
Tevis said up to 40% of her income can go toward covering rent payments.
She said paying less than average on rent helps when considering other costs as a single mom.
“I don’t get any other assistance other than living in equal housing opportunity so that helps quite a bit," Tevis said. "A good chunk of it goes to groceries. I'm only able to get like half of my groceries now that things are just so expensive. Then there's gas and driving three girls around to three different schools. It cost me $80 to fill up my tank and I just drive an Impala. There’s no extra money for anything.”
Tevis said the current rent and housing situation in Idaho prevents her from being able to move and provide more space for her and her daughters.
“I’m basically figuring I’m going to be in this apartment for at least another year or two before we can move out and even think of buying a house and just trying to save anything is going to be ridiculous. So, we're just going to stay put as long as possible,” Tevis said.
According to Washington Trust Bank economist Steve Scranton, Idaho homeowners are experiencing similar financial demands when it comes to paying their mortgages. A February 2022 study found Idaho residents are paying an average of 57.2% of their earnings on mortgages today.
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KXLY
Posted: June 7, 2022 12:25 PM by Crosscut.
A guaranteed basic income makes the stretch between pay days a little easier for Geno Rosario. “To have enough left over to breathe, to not have to count the days, it feels like there is a load off my shoulders.” (Lizz Giordano for Crosscut)By Lizz Giordano / Crosscut.com
June 7, 2022
With his first guaranteed basic income check, Geno Rosario purchased a cartload full of groceries. As the end of the month crept closer, there was no dread setting in, Rosario didn’t need to worry about stretching his paycheck until the next one came. The $500 monthly stipend filled in the gap.
“It was great to not have to worry about that for once,” Rosario said. “It’s nice to not have to panic, and know there is going to be enough.”
The extra money is also making homework time less of a struggle for Rosario and his son, who fell behind in reading and math during the pandemic. Rather than spending hours after dinner trying to have him catch up, Rosario could now afford tutoring, leaving evenings for playing video games and goofing off.
“He took a major step back,” said the technology consultant living in Tacoma. “Trying to get him caught up was exasperating.”
The guaranteed basic income program — Growing Resilience in Tacoma, or GRIT — is one of a handful experimenting in the Puget Sound area, giving a recurring, monthly payment directly to households. It is meant to supplement, not replace, existing social safety nets. And after watching COVID-era monthly federal child tax credit payments — essentially a type of a guaranteed basic income — lift families out of poverty, some lawmakers hope to bring the idea statewide.
“With the GRIT payment, I can relax, stop and breathe. And not freak out,” Rosario said. “To have enough left over to breathe, to not have to count the days, it feels like there is a load off my shoulders.”
Launched late last year by the city of Tacoma and the local United Way chapter, the guaranteed basic income program is aimed at households making just above the federal poverty line because this population is consistently left out of the conversation, said Abigail Lawson, director of the program.
“There is the assumption that they can meet basic needs,” said Lawson. “But for these families there’s barely enough room for surviving, let alone thriving.”
Breathing room
Andrew Yang drew attention to the idea of a basic income during his 2020 presidential bid. And as the pandemic raged, the idea picked up steam.
Tacoma’s GRIT program is one of two dozen or so pilots being run across the county as part of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a coalition of American mayors, including Tacoma’s mayor Victoria Woodards.
A study from the coalition’s first guaranteed income pilot, which gave 125 residents in Stockton, California, $500 per month for two years, found the money doubled the number of people who said they could cover a $400 unexpected-expense. And more participants were employed in full-time jobs a year into the pilot.
Of the qualified Tacoma families that applied to participate in GRIT, 110 were randomly selected to receive the $500 monthly stipend. A total of 135 others are acting as a control group for a research project run by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Participants from each group will be interviewed by researchers several times throughout the year and are allowing their spending habits to be tracked. Private funds are being used in Tacoma for the payments, which includes $600,000 from the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income coalition and nearly $200,000 in private donations.
During the pandemic, a guaranteed basic income by another name — the federal child tax credit — provided many families with kids under 17 with an automatic monthly payment. It immediately lifted millions of children nationwide out of poverty, said Dona Ponepinto, CEO and president of United Way of Pierce County. When the child tax credit expired, the number living in poverty shot back up.
According to a study by the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, child poverty rates increased by 41%, and 3.7 million fell into poverty when child tax credit payments stopped in January.
Seeing so many children be lifted out of poverty by the federal child tax credit spurred state Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, to push for a statewide guaranteed basic income in Washington.
“We know that giving people cash with no strings attached as quickly as possible actually works. We did it during the pandemic,” Berry said. “There are too many families in our state that are living in or on the brink of poverty, and we have the means to support them right now.”
Her proposal: 36 monthly payments equal to the average area rent of a two-bedroom apartment where the participant lives. Washington residents over 18 years old with an income at or below 50% of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s area median income limits would be eligible — about $40,500 for a household of one in the Seattle region in 2021.
“I did not think to tie it to rent, but people with lived experiences that help shape and form the bill suggested this avenue as the best way to do these cash payments,” Berry said. “Their opinion was that tying it to HUD rates was a better way to estimate cost of living.”
The bill — Evergreen Basic Income Trust —which died during the 2022 legislative session, was just the start of the conversation, Berry said. The proposal would also build on an upcoming state guaranteed income study set to be released this summer, as the Legislature requested.
“Our goal,” Berry said, “was to drop a bill, get good press, then socialize the concept and educate the committee.” And then next year bring a bill to pay for a pilot, she added.
No strings attached
Amidst the pandemic, as messages flooded into King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay’s office about lost jobs, small businesses closing and residents unable to pay rent, he launched a small guaranteed basic income program.
“I was getting so many inbound messages from people who are just on the brink of economic collapse,” said Zahilay. “During the pandemic, people’s needs were very broad; there was not one single need. People just needed funds in their hands to survive.”
So Zahilay leveraged what money he immediately had access to, redirecting a portion of his office funds and grant funding allocated to council members to the program. Throughout last year, 10 families received $1,000 a month for a year — no strings attached. The participants were chosen by the Rainier Beach Action Coalition and Urban Family, which partnered with Zahilay’s office.
When living paycheck to paycheck, there’s no room for error in people’s lives, he said. “A lot of these government programs that exist are tied to a specific purpose, but that doesn’t help if it’s an unexpected expense,” he said.
Families spent the monthly stipend on rent, food and other basic necessities, according to Danielle Jackson, who ran Rainier Beach Action Coalition’s program. And the money also allowed families to save and visit out-of-town relatives.
“We saw a lot of people who were able to have a better quality of life, more time spent with family. They were able to prioritize school,” Zahilay said. “And it always stands out to me, the emotional side of it, families expressing how much anxiety and stress was reduced.”
“Having stability and security, that’s invaluable” he added.
Abdoullahe Bayo said the extra funds allowed him to relax. His family was one of five selected by the Rainier Beach Action Coalition to participate in the tiny program. The father of eight, seven of whom live at home in South Seattle, had relied on unemployment to pay bills.
The former long-haul trucker had been working for Uber, but last year his car became too old to drive for the company. Bayo immigrated to the U.S. nearly 30 years ago from Gambia, a small county in West Africa. He used the guaranteed income monthly stipend mostly for basic necessities: rent, food, toiletries and clothing for his kids.
“A lot of families need this type of support,” Bayo said.
The largest and longest guaranteed basic income program being developed in the state focuses on pregnant Indigenous women and their child’s first 1,000 days of life. Perigee Fund, a foundation focused on early relationships between infants and their caregivers, is partnering with Hummingbird Indigenous Doula + Family Services..
“We are supporting mothers during pregnancy, but also catching children, so they can get that support for the first three years of their life to help mitigate that lifetime stressors of environmental racism,” said Patanjali de la Rocha of the Hummingbird Indigenous Doula + Family Services. “So there’s more of a chance for the opportunity to thrive.”
Over the course of the three-plus-year pilot, set to launch at the end of 2022, 150 families will receive $1,000 in unrestricted cash each month from private donations.
“I wanted it so badly for our community. I know the impact it could potentially have on Native families, Native parents,” said Camie Goldhammer, founder of Hummingbird Indigenous Doula + Family Services.
No-strings-attached payments align both with the organization’s values and with studies that show the approach is better for families, said Gloris Estrella, a director with the Perigee Fund.
“Ethically we also feel it’s important that families have the self-determination in how they use their cash,” said Estrella. “And we feel really strongly about moving away from the paternalistic, stigmatizing approach that society takes toward people who are experiencing poverty.”
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