| The Washington Association of Realtors recently launched a $1.3 million advertising campaign designed to draw the attention of the public and of policymakers to the shortage of homes for middle-income families. Over the last five years, the shortage has caused the median price of homes to increase by 64 percent, while wages have improved only by an estimated 15 percent statewide.
The ad campaign’s first phase will air primarily on cable television and 29 radio stations in counties around the state and in Portland. Newspaper ads also will run in The Olympian, the state capital’s daily newspaper. A web site, www.ItsaPriority.com, will help explain housing issues, research, and legislative solutions.
Statewide, the median sale price of a home was $300,900 at the end of October, an increase of 14.9 percent from the median recorded at the same time last year. Not surprisingly, the state’s “affordability index” fell to a record low for the sixth quarter in a row. The index measures the ability of a middle-income family to buy a median price home. A ranking of 100 means a family has exactly enough money for a median-priced home.
In the 2007 session of the state Legislature, Washington Realtors will propose four strategies that will expand the supply of mid-priced homes:
- Require cities and counties to reserve enough land to match the supply of homes with the number of jobs — and families — the economy will add.
- Establish performance measures to determine whether communities are realistically preparing to accommodate growth, ensure economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, and relieve traffic congestion.
- Ensure cities and counties get accurate predictions of how many people will need homes.
- Establish a “Growth Management Infrastructure Account” to help cities and counties meet the cost for streets, sewers and other infrastructure needed before a home can be built.
The Puget Sound region will add jobs at a rate double the national average for at least the next few years. |
