Single-family homes still needed on the Palouse

Single-family homes are still in short supply on the Palouse, but that does not hinder higher-income people moving to the area, according to one of the people behind a local housing needs assessment.

Brian Points spoke to the League of Women Voters of Pullman on Tuesday and revisited the Palouse Regional Housing Assessment that was completed in 2019 by the Partnership for Economic Prosperity and Thomas P. Miller and Associates. Points used to work with Thomas P. Miller and Associates and is now president of Points Consulting in Moscow.

That study recommended an increase in construction of single family homes and a decrease in production of multi-family housing units over the next decade.

This would address a significant increase in the number of renters over homeowners in the area that Points assured is not simply because of the number of college students. Many of those renters are older than 25.

Between 2007-15, the number of renters increased 46 percent, while home ownership increased 7 percent.

Local real estate agent Amy Honeywell said she expected that gap between renters and owners 25 and older to “drastically increase” as the median price of an entry level home in Pullman is approaching $300,000.

“So, those people are being priced out,” she said.

Points said he, too, expects an increase but not necessarily a drastic one.

He said many higher-income people are moving into homes, particularly those with the means to build their own houses. Many of them are locating on land outside Moscow and Pullman and in the surrounding smaller communities.

He said people from all over the country have been settling in homes on the Palouse.

“Obviously with the natural space, the natural amenities, all the things that we have here it’s drawing a lot of people to the area,” he said.

Points said people from western Washington are moving to the region and he has heard of people coming from as far as states like Vermont, Ohio and Arkansas.

However, the Palouse is more accommodating to wealthier homeowners.

“When you’re dealing in an area of limited supply and high demand like we have in the Palouse, it’s really mostly benefiting people who have money,” he said.

The housing assessment favors large-scale single-family housing developments.

The Pullman Planning Commission recently held a public hearing regarding SynTier Engineering’s plan to construct 68 homes on 10 acres south of Kamiak Elementary School.

According to the application, the homes would be 1,000-2,000 square feet with no garages, but will have covered parking stalls and open community parking spaces.

Points said it also favors efforts like the Moscow Affordable Housing Trust which, according to a December Daily News report, plans to build three affordable homes this year and 17 in the next four years in Moscow.

The homes will be sold using the community land trust model in which the trust sells the houses and retains the land the houses are on.

The Palouse Regional Housing Needs report can be found at pepedo.org.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.