By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Housing Demand Continues to Outpace Supply

The September Builder's Bulletin shows signs that our region's housing supply and demand continues to be out of balance, with housing inventory for sale hovering around one-month's supply in King and Snohomish counties and home prices still on the rise. The median price of single family homes in King County rose 18.56 percent year-over-year in July to $658,000. The median price in Snohomish County rose 11.87 percent to $453,085.

The Builders' Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report:

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

On Sept. 15, the third annual Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties Housing Summit drew a large crowd as we addressed our region's housing affordability crisis.

Governor Jay Inslee offered the keynote speech highlighting the need to produce more housing units and find greater efficiencies in our permit and regulatory processes. Other speakers included Windermere economist Matthew Gardner; Solid Ground President and CEO Gordon McHenry Jr.; John DesCamp of Washington Trust Bank; and Peter Orser, the director of the University of Washington's Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.

An exclusive video detailing the struggles families face buying a home in today's market was produced for the Summit. You can also view photos from the event.

Next Steps

The Housing Summit helps launch and build momentum for your association's legislative priorities in Olympia. Housing affordability will be the focal point of those efforts in 2017 and beyond. The MBA has identified a number of areas where we plan to focus our advocacy efforts with the hope of improving housing affordability for all of our region's residents.

Specifically, the MBA will continue working to focus policy action on our region's buildable land supply; restore and protect vested development rights; address condo construction defect liability; ensure funding for housing and homeless programs occurs parallel with increased housing supply; and incentivize affordable housing. We have shared these priorities with Governor Inslee's Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB) and are making sure our voice is heard in Olympia.

The MBA also surveyed Housing Summit attendees to get their thoughts on how we can address the housing affordability crisis and we are taking this feedback into consideration. Ideas include such things as increased densities in single family neighborhoods, more focus on multifamily housing, reforming the Growth Management Act, concentrating resources on infrastructure, addressing the skilled labor shortage in the construction industry, and taking further steps to address the homeless crisis.

For more on the specific ideas discussed at the Housing Summit, the Seattle King County REALTORS® wrote this re-cap of the event and the Lens featured it here.

15 Years Green

Jason Lear is principal and co-owner (along with his wife, Holly Batt) of Batt + Lear, a 15-year-old Seattle construction firm, employing a diverse group of 25 employees. Batt + Lear builds and remodels structures to be highly energy efficient, simple, and functional and has won numerous green building awards over the years.

Joined MBA for the Health Insurance Trust

Batt + Lear joined the MBA in 2005, specifically for the MBA Health Trust. "Right from the beginning, it had been our dream to be the kind of company that people wanted to work for," says Jason. "Early on, we offered 20 days of paid time off plus health insurance. The MBA Health Trust was the only plan that would let us insure a minimum of just five employees. We also appreciated the ability to pick our own practitioners."

Staying Insured Through Downturns

Jason's company has made it a priority to maintain health insurance benefits, even through difficult financial periods. "Making it through 2008 was tough. We had to cut our 20-employee team by half. But we did have the good fortune to be vested in remodeling. After the financial crash, people couldn't sell or invest in new buildings, but there were a lot of remodel projects. So we got through. Now we're up to 25 employees and doing well."

Temporarily Lured Away

Jason tried another health insurance program for three years before coming back to the MBA Health Trust. "We were lured away by another insurance trust, which seemed less expensive. And it was cheaper initially because we had a group of young employees who never made claims. But when our employees actually started using the insurance, we were penalized, and our costs were hiked drastically by 45 percent. So we found our way back to the MBA Health Trust."

Modest Increases Are Easier to Plan For

All businesses have seen escalation of health insurance premiums the past couple of years, but Jason says the Trust is keeping them reasonable. "You assume rates are going to go up," he says. "We can handle single-digit increases. They are easier to plan for versus what you see outside of the Trust."

Regence BlueShield Is Very Versatile

Regence BlueShield, the Trust's insurer, provides Batt + Lear many care and provider options. "There is a lot of flexibility. Our staff can select the HSA plan or the preferred provider plan," says Jason. "Personally, for my family, I appreciate that Regence supports alternative care, things like massage, chiropractor, naturopathic doctors, etc." Jason says the plan is also well managed. "The administrators are great; they show us owners different plan options for getting the best coverage for the lowest price. And they present well-explained options to our employees and are always available for consultation."

Built Green

Batt + Lear are highly engaged with Built Green, the MBA's program for setting certification standards of excellence for construction that makes a significant impact on housing, health, and the environment. The program provides consumers with an easy-to-understand rating system that quantifies environmentally friendly building practices and gives builders the resources and support to build high-quality, desirable homes. "We were green builders right from the start," says Jason. "We wanted to be more public about it. So we started to certify projects as green. And now I'm on the executive committee of Built Green."

MBA GRIP Program Delivers L&I Refunds

Jason's firm also takes advantage of GRIP, the local safety incentive program for members of the MBA. GRIP provides Batt + Lear with a team of professionals dedicated to helping them reduce on-the-job injuries, manage workers' comp claims, lower L&I premiums, and maximize refunds. "It's a great, overlooked program that I wish we had known about earlier. We left a lot of money on the table. This is the third year we are getting refunds," Jason says.

The MBA Means Advocacy

The MBA has long been known for lobbying and government relations on behalf of its members and Jason is seeing the benefits directly in Seattle. "There's definitely a new focus from the MBA toward Seattle businesses like mine," he says. "The MBA advocacy groups are partnering with other influential groups to provide the Seattle City Council with a voice representing builders and green builders—which we very urgently need."