First-time homebuyers struggling in Washington

Washington state’s housing market is getting less affordable for first-time homebuyers, a recent study by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University found.

The housing affordability index, which measures the ability of a typical family to make payments on a median-priced resale home, found that first-time homebuyers only just 66 percent of the income needed to buy a home in Spokane County. Spokane’s affordability practically mirrors Walla Walla.

So where are the most affordable cities in the state? Only three counties boasted indexes of more than 100, including Columbia, Adams and Benton.

The least affordable markets for first-time homebuyers were King and Jefferson counties, which had indexes in the high 30s and Kittitas, which had an index of 44.

Statewide, the study found that first-time homebuyers only had 49.5 percent of the income necessary to buy a home.