Rents Or Wages: What’s Rising Faster In Washington?

SEATTLE, WA - Rents in Washington rose faster than wages in 10 of the state's 12 largest counties in 2018 according to data released in a new report by the real estate research firm ATTOM Data. The report analyzed single family rentals in U.S. counties with a population of at least 100,000 and found that rents rose faster than wages in the majority of counties.

According to the report, rents rose faster in 375 of the 449 U.S. counties analyzed in the report or in 84 percent of counties analyzed. Wages were rising faster in only Spokane and Skagit counties, according to the data.

Two of the state's largest counties - King and Snohomish - posted whopping 20 percent gains in rental prices from 2017 to 2018. Wages in those counties either went backward or grew only slightly.

But even for landlords, the news wasn't great. The report looked at the best counties in the U.S. to buy single family rentals in 2018. The 12 Washington counties in the study were all ranked poor places to buy a single-family rental. Yakima County came in the highest at No. 249.

Here’s how all 12 Washington counties rank for buying single family rentals (rent growth is first followed by wage growth):

Yakima: 6% | 3.2%
Snohomish: 20% | -0.5%
Clark: 7% | 0.4%
Thurston: 5% | -0.3%
Spokane: -1% | 0.7%
Cowlitz: 13% | 0.4%
Pierce: 6% | 0.2%
Kitsap: 9% | -3.5%
Benton: 3% | -1.2%
King: 20% | 2.8%
Skagit: 2% | 3.2%
Whatcom: 6% | 1.7%

ATTOM used data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and publicly recorded sales deed data collected and licensed by the firm.

Read the full report from ATTOM Data here.

Photo by Neal McNamara/Patch