![]() The first-time homebuyer is essential to the housing cycle and the only reasonable remedy is an increase in housing supply - especially in the lower prices. This greatly impacts the availability of workforce housing which directly impacts businesses. As home prices and land value increase, so do rents. Prices will continue to escalate, and rental units are calibrated to mortgage payments. If you do a search for homes in that county for that price, you will see the problem.Įven if we ignore the first-time homebuyer problem - we still have a problem. ![]() This county has a First-Time Homebuyer Index well below the 100 mark (a score of 73.2) and to get to affordability, the median house must sell for $218,290 dollars. The Puget Sound area counties have been the hardest hit - but 32 counties are not affordable for entry-level buyers. The picture gets worse when mortgage interest rates increase, and we are currently enjoying historically low interest rates. There are only seven counties in Washington that have that inventory - Lincoln, Ferry, Asotin, Grant, Adams, Garfield and Stevens. At a 100 you have a healthy market and first-time homebuyers have a shot at purchasing a home. It is when the median household income meets the median home sale price affordability. They have published this index for years, and it has become the standard nationally for measuring affordability of housing. The Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington pioneered the “Housing Affordability Index” - a matrix which measures the income of residents in each Washington county against home purchase costs. If the trend continues, only the affluent will be able to afford to buy a home and an entire generation of first-time homebuyers will not have an opportunity to build wealth through real estate. This is not a new problem, as the percentage of first-time homebuyers has been on the decline since 2010. Our current housing market shuts out many first-time homebuyers who historically represent 36% to 50% of all Washington real estate transactions. Each transaction opens the door to another homebuyer moving up or down that ladder. On average, Washington homeowners will buy and sell three homes in their lifetime. ![]() Historically, a healthy real estate market is like a ladder with the first step being affordable entry-level housing for renters and first-time homebuyers and the last step being seniors selling their last home. The timeliness of care, how fast you can get to see a healthcare provider, is another important measure.Although many of us are making this frenzied seller’s market work for our buyers and sellers, I think we can all agree that it is not a healthy, sustainable housing market for Washington state. Access is measured by identifying barriers that might prevent the delivery of care such as the inability to obtain insurance coverage, having to travel long distances to health care centers and lack of sufficient facilities and/or healthcare professionals. Access to healthcare is how easy or difficult it may be to receive the care. If rates or out-of-pocket expenses are high, your cost of living will increase. Affordability is generally measured by the rates set for insurance coverage in a state, as well as the out-of-pocket expenses that need to be paid by you when receiving the care. The ability to afford healthcare as well as the ability to access care are key indicators of how much you will be paying for this important resource if you move to another state. Healthcare costs make up a significant part of the cost of living. Washington is ranked number 20 out of all states in overall healthcare access and affordability.
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