Realtors Push to Curb Rising Home Prices

Realtors want the state to help curb rising home prices, and they came to Olympia on Wednesday to spread their message. About 350 members of Washington Realtors made the trip as part of the association's $1.3 million advertising campaign summarized on the Web site.
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Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, plans to sponsor a few of the Realtors' bills. He called the publicity campaign a "first shot" at addressing housing affordability, but he declined to predict the outcome of the campaign during a session marked by interest in school funding, environmental issues and health care reform. "We're not going to solve this issue this session, that's for sure," Springer said. "But I'm not going to let go of it. A debate has to get started." Read full story from The Olympian

Statistics from the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University highlight some of the issues. Here in Thurston County, the media home price in the third quarter of 2006 was $257,200, up 9.4% from just one year ago. It's even worse in Lewis County, where the median price is up a whopping 30.8% since last year.

The Washington Realtors are working to improve our quality of life and ensure there are a variety of home choices available for all Washington residents, their website says. "That's why quality of life issues like economic vitality, transportation, good schools, growth management planning and home affordability must be top priorities with Washington's state and local lawmakers." Their website encourages and has tools for contacting lawmakers and writing letters to the editor supporting such actions. And they've been taking out TV ads like this one:

Read more about the Washington Realtors efforts on the website itsapriority.com