SEQUIM — The median income in Clallam County is not increasing fast enough to support home sales.
Only 40 percent of the people living in the county can afford to buy a median-income price, the attendees of a housing market workshop were told Tuesday.
The Clallam County Economic Development Council hosted the workshop at the Clallam PUD building in Carlsborg. The workshop featured a panel of local experts including Port Angeles Realty Realtor/Broker Jim Hagewood, Team McAleer Realtor Managing Broker Michael McAleer, Clallam County Director of Community Development Bruce Emery, city of Port Angeles Manager of Community & Economic Development Shannen Cartmel, city of Sequim Interim Director of Community Development Karla Boughton, Westerra Homes CEO & President Greg McCarry, and Clallam County Housing and Grant Resource Director Tim Dalton.
EDC Executive Director Colleen McAleer served as the moderator and asked panel members questions.
From 2019-21, the median home sold in the county cost between $265,000 and $300,000, but that increased to $450,000 last year, Haguewood said.
“Things have certainly changed, and this is nationwide,” McAleer said. “Normally, supply and demand dictate price, but prices continue to grow even though supply is growing.”
Inventory of available homes to buy was described as flat by McAleer and stable but slightly declining by Haguewood.
“Clallam County ranks 15th in Washington state for median home price but 30th for median household income,” Haguewood said.
Those rankings combine to put the county in the top five worst on the Housing Affordability Index.
On the planning side of things, Emery said the county is seeing more manufactured homes being built.
“This is telling because there’s a degree of affordability in manufactured homes,” he said
Port Angeles and Sequim also are seeing more manufactured homes, Cartmel and Boughton said. The cities have been working on policies to make building houses more affordable.
In Port Angeles, there’s a fee waiver program and permit-ready plans, Cartmel said. The city also is working to update its comprehensive plan, including the housing plan. Officials are working on a citywide rezone to make building less restrictive, and they’re looking at redesignating commercial zones for mixed use.
Sequim also is working on its comprehensive plan, which is going to be a complete rewrite, Boughton said.
“Housing is our last piece we’ll be working on in the next month or so,” she said. “We’re looking at expanding the suite of residential homes. We do plan to have a phased approach to development updates.”
A consultant is working to complete a housing and market study, she said.
“We’re looking at incentives for deeply affordable homes,” Boughton said.
Moderator McAleer turned to McCarry to discuss the costs associated with building homes.
“Every dollar we spend costs the consumer $1.40,” McCarry said.
The cheapest he could get a new home cost-to-build down to was $265 per square foot, he said.
One reason the cost to build a home keeps increasing is Washington’s zero-net emission law, McCarry said.
“From 2018-25, energy codes have added about 80 percent to 90 percent to a house,” he said.
The state passed the law in 2006, and at first, builders were able to make relatively inexpensive changes in order to meet the codes. Every 36 months, the number of points required to meet the codes increases, McCarry said, so that now the changes which must be made are expensive, and they’re adding to the cost of building a new home.
“The whole goal is to get rid of carbon,” he said. “The state energy policy takes precedence over affordability.”
In 2018, 65 percent of the county’s population working at the median income could afford to buy a median-price home, he said. That decreased to 39 percent in 2025.
The median home price in 2018 was $273,300. In 2025, it’s $513,000.
“The market is very soft right now,” McCarry said.
Another issue builders face is the state’s Growth Management Act, which was adopted in 1990, he said.
“You have to look at the scarcity of land,” McCarry said. “In Washington state, 4 percent of the land is in the urban growth area. In some UGAs, there’s not enough land. It impacts the cost of developing a lot.”
The final segment of the discussion went to Dalton, who answered questions about rental properties.
A large demographic of the population in Clallam County is stuck in apartments at the mercy of their landlords, he said.
“We are in a declining natural growth within Clallam County,” Dalton said. “Large contractors are looking at growth and not seeing it here.”
That’s why large apartment complexes are not being built in the county, he said. Additionally, it costs between $250,000 and $350,000 to build an apartment complex, but people in the county don’t make enough money to rent newer units when they are required to make three times the cost of the rent, he said.
People in the county are cost-burdened right now with the rising prices for gas, groceries and utilities. That burden increases the farther west in the county you go, Dalton said.
“We have a lot of people that are struggling,” he said.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
