Home Ownership
is out of reach for those
that make the Methow Valley work
2022 median home sale price was $640,000
2023 Area Median Income (AMI) is $66,800 for a household of 2
In order to afford the median house, a household of 2 would need to earn around three times AMI, or ~$200,000 per year
~25% of the Seattle area makes $200k or more per year, compared to ~2.5% of Okanogan county
High demand from high earners from outside the valley compounds an already overall constrained supply of housing, leaving a negligible supply of market housing for local households.
Home Ownership
Solutions for the Methow
Create, affordably, permanently
The Methow Valley has added a lot of new houses to the housing stock, but the vast majority is out of reach for most who live and work in the Valley.
Home prices have outpaced wage increases 7 : 1 in the past 5 years, and show no sign of slowing down.
As we create new home ownership opportunities for locals, it’s important that we ensure the homes do not have the potential to cycle out of affordability.
The Community Land Trust development model is a proven model for creating permanently affordable homes.
Community Housing Easements have the potential to help provide a legal structure to the intent of permanence.
Preserve
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with selling a Methow home on the open market, reaping the financial rewards of a global market, if at all possible, think about selling to a local, or bequeathing to the local Housing Trust.
Employing a Community Housing Easement is a good way to ensure that an investment in selling to a local is realized by the community in perpetuity.
Solutions in Action
The Methow Housing Trust has been developing permanently affordable homes since 2018, has families in 26 homes, with funding and land to develop another 44 over the next 5 years.
The Methow Housing Trust develops in the “Community Land Trust” (CLT) model. MHT procures and develops land, builds and sells homes to income and residency-qualified applicants. MHT (on behalf of the community) retains ownership of the underlying land, enabling home owners to develop modest equity, and ensure that the home remains affordable for qualified applicants. Easements are placed on the land, enabling this model to create permanent affordability.
Demand for MHT houses outpaces the current land and financial capacity to build.
Head on over to MHT’s website to learn more.
Opportunities with Potential
Local Housing Easements
(Deed Restrictions)
Commonly known as “Deed Restrictions,” we are looking to frame the potential more accurately by changing the language to “Community Housing Easements,” because, like Conservation Easements, the goal is to permanently preserve a valuable resource for the community: housing for local folks.
Easements can vary in their complexity and depth, but at the most basic level, the idea is to ensure the protected unit of housing is occupied by someone who lives and works in the Methow Valley.
The Methow Housing Trust is actively working on R&D for a potential program.
Living Will: Bequeath your house to the Housing Trust for stewardship
Creating a permanently affordable home for a local is a great way to leave a legacy. The Methow Housing Trust is well positioned to be the perpetual steward.
Preserve land for locals
The Methow has a history of its residents building their own house, affordably.
As land prices have skyrocketed, this has become next to impossible without a leg-up: buying land generally requires a cash transaction.
If we can identify, protect, and provide buildable land for interested locals, building can still be done affordably.