Housing inventory in Spokane is at an all-time low. 

Home prices have increased 21% in Spokane County from April 2020 to April 2021. Energy codes that went into effect Feb. 1 of this year added $20,000 to $30,000 to the cost of a new home. Lumber prices add an additional $36,500 on average, and land prices have roughly doubled in the last two years.

Rising costs are not the only issue. 

According to a study by EcoNorthwest and commissioned by the nonprofit Up for Growth, Spokane County as a whole was underbuilt by approximately 32,000 units from 2010 to 2019. 

Additionally, more people recently have been fleeing the high cost and blight of the highly urbanized West Coast while enjoying the freedom of an increasingly work-from-home workforce. 

Add them to the mix, and the new demand only makes the pent-up need even more glaring.

And yet, according to some members of the Spokane City Council, there is no emergency. Recently, Councilwoman Candice Mumm said, “I don’t see a need for sweeping changes,” and “I don’t believe the sky is falling.” However, “sweeping changes” are not the Council’s only blind spot.

On Nov. 30 of last year, the same night the Council passed a sales tax increase to put funds toward affordable housing, the Council voted down a proposed apartment complex inside the city. 

Again, just a few weeks ago, the Council denied another new multifamily housing development within the City, despite recent news of historically low rental vacancy rates and looming rent increases.

Homebuilders in our association are often asked if we need to increase density, increase the amount of buildable land, or change regulations. The answer to all three is a resounding, “Yes.”

While we will always pursue policies that provide for the opportunity of homeownership, a healthy rental market is an important part of the housing ladder. And density doesn’t just mean rentals. 

Additional housing types are needed to fit median income affordability in the kind of market Spokane has become.

While the city of Spokane has shown to have little interest in producing the kind of density claimed under its comprehensive plan, a strong challenge to its ineffectiveness is necessary.

Sweeping changes must be made, such as simplified zoning, allowing for accessory dwelling units, incentivizing infill, and projects with multiple housing types, to name a few. If not, the city must release those housing units to other jurisdictions in the county that are willing to do the hard work of creating livable spaces for the 32,000 units we already need.

Now is not the time to sit idly by or try to put lipstick on a plan that hasn’t worked for 20 years. If the city of Spokane is uninterested in helping with the housing crisis, it’s time we find someone who will.

Isaiah Paine is the government affairs director for the Spokane Home Builders Association. He can be reached by email at [email protected].