Washington groups focus on housing issues

WASHINGTON — Housing issues have come to the collective attention of Washington organizations.

WEDG Executive Director Mary Audia said the group was forming a housing initiative group to assess the community’s needs, restarting the team for the first time since its creation in 2019. Its first meeting is scheduled for July 9.

“One of the biggest shortages we have is low- and middle-income housing,” Audia said. “It’s vital for workforce to have a place to be able to live.”

Tim Elliott of Elliott Realty Group said the issue was a product of historically low interest rates, which have made housing a seller’s market.

“Because there’s so many more buyers than sellers right now, the homes are being sold very quickly,” Elliott said. “I’m not saying the inventory has been low … it’s just not hanging on the shelf. If I look at the numbers of homes that have sold year over year, we’re probably on pace. I can’t give you the exact numbers, but we’re probably on pace with last year and the year before. It’s just that we have that many more buyers.”

The Washington City Council unanimously adopted a community and housing needs assessment during a special meeting Tuesday morning, but the assessment focused more on housing quality than quantity.

Among other things, water, sewer and street improvements were listed as high priorities in the assessment. Housing availability was not listed, but housing rehabilitation was named a “medium priority.”

“The city has a need to improve the quality of the existing housing stock, especially for homes owned by low- to moderate-income guidelines,” the assessment said. “The primary need is for exterior housing improvements such as roofs, siding, windows and related items; however, other needs also exist within the community including energy efficiency needs and potentially some accessibility improvements.”