SPOKANE, Wash. — For new homebuyers, the income needed to buy a home is $114,627 which is $40,00 more than a usual household earns. In Spokane and eastern Washington, homes are selling for $370,000 and with a 7% interest rate, your monthly mortgage will be about $2,500.
Across the state line in Idaho it’s more, with a typical home selling for $462,000 and with a 7% interest rate, you monthly mortgage will be about $2,800.
Ryan Herzog, Gonzaga University Associate Professor of Economics, said, “median incomes have gone up over the last 56 years, certainly in the last two years, but they haven’t kept up with home prices… It’s up nearly 200% and once you look at interest rates, they have doubled.”
The median income over the last eight years has increased $20,000 so that means the average cost of owning a home has increased $20,000.
“Once you factor in childcare, food costs, gas prices people don’t have enough money. Something’s gotta give,” says Herzog.
If we look at the big picture, it may be unclear where the housing market will go. Mortgage rates right now are almost hitting 8.5%, but there are a bunch of people moving to Spokane and buying houses.
These prices have made it hard for first-time homebuyers to even find a home in the median price range. They are quickly getting picked up by rental property managers, investors and many other people wanting to move into the area.
Right now there are not enough properties available for the demand of people moving, creating a more expensive housing market.
