SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The City of Spokane Valley anticipates its population will grow by 14,103 people over the next 16 years, according to the Office of Financial Management’s medium series forecast data for 2037.
City council adopted a Housing Action Plan (HAP) on June 1 to address housing gaps. The plan determined the city needs nearly 6,660 new housing units to support its population growth over the next 16 years.
It also lacks housing options called missing-middle housing. They include duplexes, townhomes and cottages. These housing types are typically occupied by millennials and seniors, which are growing segments of the city’s population, according to the plan.
The Spokane Realtors Association agrees there is a housing crisis Spokane Valley, along with the greater Spokane area.
But Government Affairs Director Darin Watkins said the demand is much worse than the city’s plan conveys.
"In the Spokane Valley, you could sell the entire 6000 homes in a year," Watkins said. "Half of all renters, right now in Spokane County, want to buy a house, but can't because they can't find them. We're at the lowest level of inventory in the history of Spokane County."
The association claims the city is not using the most up-to-date data or additional resources in its Housing Action Plan.
“We think it's woefully inadequate, plain and simple," Watkins said. "I mean that number means that we only need 300 more homes a year. It’s just, by any stretch of the imagination or facts, just incorrect.”
City spokesperson Jeff Kleingartner said ECONorthwest prepared the report for the city.
He explained it relied on 2019 data from the Office of Financial management. Where that data was not available, it relied on the U.S. Census Bureau’s data from 2012 and 2018.
While the Spokane Realtors Association and City of Spokane valley do not agree on exact housing demand projections, they do agree something needs to be done about this housing crisis.
The HAP identifies three goals to increase housing in the city.
- “Preserve existing affordable housing and prevent displacement.
Increase market-rate and affordable housing supply but focus on zones supporting multifamily and missing-middle housing types.
Increase housing options and housing choice.
The Spokane Realtors Association supports the city’s goal of introducing new housing options. Government affairs director Darin Watkins says this is critical to meeting the demand with the space that’s available.
“Kendall yards is a perfect example of that," Watkins said. "It's everything that designers today say we need to do to get more people in a smaller space, and yet you can't build this hardly anywhere on the county.”
The housing action plan provides strategies to implement the three goals. The implementation strategies will be considered through a separate community process.
Those who want to read the full Housing Action Plan can find it online.