King County Executive Ron Sims today issued a new study on housing affordability which shows that South King County has the least expensive housing and the Eastside has the most expensive, with housing costs in Seattle and North King County somewhere between the two extremes.
The study is a snapshot of who can afford the housing - both rental and ownership - that the real estate market is producing in King County jurisdictions. It is the first time that a jurisdictional affordability analysis has been done for King County outside of the U.S. census.
According to the study, families in low-income households have been able to find affordable rentals in Auburn, Black Diamond, Burien, Des Moines, Enunclaw, Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, Normandy Park, Pacific, and SeaTac, but there are few vacancies. In a third of the cities in King County fewer than 10 percent of existing rental units are affordable to low-income households or have no multifamily rentals at all. All parts of the county have rentals that can be afforded by households with moderate incomes.
The rental data was collected by surveying a portion of the multifamily housing in each jurisdiction. The ownership data was taken from Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sales during a one year period from April 1, 1997 to March 31, 1998.
Purchasing a single-family detached home is increasingly out of reach for the half of King County households earning less than median income, which is $53,000 a year for a family of three. Almost 60% of housing sales -- condominiums and single family combined -- in King County could only be afforded by upper income households above 120% of median income.
“We need to work harder and more creatively to make housing more affordable to working families and their children,” says Sims. “We’ve opened some doors but clearly we need to do more, starting with the cities and the private sector.”
The County Executive's office has undertaken a number of initiatives during the past year, to help make housing more affordable to those who live in King County. Among those initiatives are:
- Creating affordable housing on surplus properties.
- A Credit Enhancement Program to allow for lower long-term interest rates on projects with affordable housing.
- The Open Door Loan Program, a partnership with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and Fannie Mae to make down payment loans available for first-time home buyers in King County.
- An increase in the Housing Opportunity Fund for low-income and special needs households.
- Encouraging Transit-Oriented Housing Development that makes better use of existing urban lands through compact, mixed-use development near transit hubs.
Because this study only examines the affordability of market rate housing, it does not assess how well each jurisdiction is meeting its affordable housing targets under the state Growth Management Act.
King County will attempt to provide such an assessment before the end of the year, after analyzing the affordability of subsidized housing.
Copies of the full report with maps can be obtained through the King County Department of Community and Human Services at (206) 296-7605.
