IS IT ILLEGAL FOR REALTORS TO SHARE CRIME STATS?

Consumers want to be armed with information before making a financial decision on an important purchase. That’s especially true when shopping for a home, often the biggest transaction one ever makes.

In addition to wanting to understand the purchasing process and how much home one can afford, prospective buyers also tell us that crime and safety are prime considerations when choosing an area to live.

That makes sense, as no one wishes to learn after moving in that, say, a nightclub is nearby and known for random gun and drug-related incidents. How do we protect ourselves against a case of buyer’s remorse?

Some ask whether the streets are safe and if I would live in the area. That’s not an easy answer because it is against the law to guide buyers in one direction or another when it comes to describing safety aspects (as well as quality of schools).

One would think providing crime statistics to buyers would be a welcome service by a real estate broker. It’s not … and here’s why.

Among many goals of the Fair Housing Act is to prevent “steering.” That’s a term used to describe real estate professionals (agents, brokers, lenders) who encourage buyers toward – or more importantly, away from – communities based on race, religion and a number of other protected classes. Simply saying, “You don’t want to live in that neighborhood” is essentially a violation of the law even when based on crime data.

A survey conducted in 2021 by a competing real estate brokerage noted half of all owners said crime and safety were their top priorities when deciding where to move. Since then, the same brokerage – along with competitors – has stopped providing neighborhood crime stats from their websites to avoid the potential liability of steering people in one direction or another.

These real estate sites suggest the data is unreliable, possibly misleading and risky. I think it’s all of that, plus the information can reinforce racial biases – whether explicit or implicit.

A quick aside: Despite what people might think, the increase in temporary shelters for homeless people does not necessarily lead to a rise in crime. “On average, an increase in the number of tents and structures in an area is not associated with any increases in property crime – very close to zero,” says Charles Lanfear, an Oxford University sociologist who examined data compiled by Seattle Pacific University students on our city’s homeless tent population.

Real estate brokers can provide links to crime statistics for their clients but they should never interpret the severity of the neighborhood’s safety based on those figures (unless, perhaps, that broker is trained in criminal studies). Instead, buyers and sellers should take advantage of resources on the internet from local governments for crime stats and make their own judgments.

SEATTLE MEASURE APPROVED

A ballot measure in Seattle (featured as this month’s main photo) that was aimed to establish a social housing developer has passed. Initiative 135 collected 57% of the vote amid turnout of 33% of the electorate. It’s now up to City Council to determine how to fund the public program, which will likely take many millions of dollars to support. Stay tuned!

At the state level, lawmakers have passed through one chamber of the Legislature an incredible 28 pieces of legislation aimed to improve housing conditions for all. A primary goal in Olympia as they prepare a new two-year state budget is for lawmakers to address the shortage of affordable housing. Washington’s population has grown by 60% in the last 30 years while only 33% more housing has been produced with an estimated 1.1M additional homes necessary over the next 20 years to catch up, including roughly half needed for lower income residents.

The challenges have been created by slow-moving government, shortages of labor and materials to build, and backlash from residents who rather keep their neighborhoods as-is. NIMBYism flies in the face of public surveys that, in one recent case, shows 71% of Washington voters support legislation to allow higher-density housing, and 68% would support policies even if it meant allowing new duplexes or triplexes to be built near them.

The main bottleneck on the path to housing growth is restrictive zoning laws that limit where multi-family structures can be built. The Puget Sound region is the fourth-most regulated in the country for permitting and land use, according to a 2019 Wharton School study. A report by the Urban Institute says 70% of the land in Seattle and Bellevue is zoned exclusively for single-family use, including about one-third of the land near transit hubs.

House Bill (HB) 1110 is the main piece of legislation targeting the issue of zoning. The House passed the bill that would require cities of 75K or more people to remove single-family zoning restrictions and permit duplexes and fourplexes everywhere and sixplexes within a quarter-mile walking distance of a major transit hub. Cities between 25K and 75K would be required to allow duplexes everywhere and triplexes if one of the units is deemed affordable. It also removes off-street parking requirements for homes within a half-mile of a major transit stop in all cities. (The Seattle Times editorial board urges caution on this measure.)

Gov. Jay Inslee is seeking $4B in the state budget (2023-2025) to help address the housing shortage and homelessness. He hopes to use the funds to build thousands of units and shelters for the unhoused in Washington, which has the fewest number of homes per household of any state in the country.

HB 1046 is moving swiftly through both chambers. It aims to expand supply by supporting the ability of public housing authorities to finance affordable housing developments by re-benchmarking area median income limits to a higher 80%. Other measures that have passed the House include actions to permit the splitting of parcels for more homes and the loosening of restrictions on the construction of smaller flats known as accessory dwelling units (both within a primary residence and stand-alone in the backyard).

“Addressing increased cost of housing and the epidemic of homelessness that is affecting not only Seattle, but every part of our state, is long overdue,” state senator Noel Frame told me in an email. “I am committed to developing strategic approaches to expand access to affordable housing and addressing some of the root causes of homelessness.” Frame’s 36^th Legislative district includes areas around Queen Anne and Magnolia.

Opponents of eliminating single-family zoning and other actions to add density have sought ways to maintain control over the decision-making process and preserve the character and fit of each neighborhood.

Many local governments have taken actions to address the issues over the years. The City of Bellevue reduced parking requirements, Spokane leaders have cut the time to complete permitting from months to weeks and Seattle upzoned 27 hubs with transit stations. But it’s not enough and not widespread, so the state is taking more responsibility.

Lt. Gov. Denny Heck is Washington’s point person on housing. He summed up the situation best: “It’s at an emergency scale and our public policy response ought to be proportionate to that.”

Legislators have until April 12 to approve or reject the proposals that have already passed one chamber. They then must negotiate with the opposite chamber over the final 10 days of the legislative session to hash out the approved bills. We will update you next month on progress.

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BY THE NUMBERS

>> Washington ranks No. 12 in the nation for “best states in the country to raise a family,” according to a report from WalletHub. The website used 51 metrics – from education and childcare to health and family fun – to deliver its rankings. Massachusetts and Minnesota topped the list. Mississippi was last.

>> It is now more affordable in 95% of the country for the typical household to rent a 3-bedroom home than to own, according to research released by ATTOM Data Solutions. That’s a huge reversal from 2022 when 60% of households would be better off owning than renting a similar sized home. The main causes for the turnaround: skyrocketing mortgage rates and inflation since the previous report was issued 12 months earlier.

>> The same 2023 report from ATTOM noted median single-family home prices are rising faster than average weekly wages in 93% of the country. The widest rent vs. own affordability gap is in Honolulu, where average 3-bed rents consume 66% of average wages while single-family homeownership expenses consume 140%.

>> Seattle came in at No. 39 in the 2023 World’s Best Cities Report, said a study by global advisors Resonance Consultancy. In addition to tourist appeal, the rankings account for infrastructure, nature, the arts and diversity among other aspects. London and Paris were Nos. 1 and 2. The Emerald City ranked No. 12 in the U.S., with New York and Los Angeles topping the national list.

>> More single women own homes in Washington than single men, according to data from the online lending marketplace LendingTree. Of the 1.94M homeowners in the state, 11.3% are single women and 8.8% are single men. The difference places Washington 34^th among all 50 states in this category. Florida has the widest gap between single women (14.8%) and single men homeownership (10.3%) at 4.5 percentage points. Only two states – North Dakota and South Dakota – have single men owning more homes than their female counterparts.

>> About 74M Americans, or 28% of the U.S. population, live in a homeowners’ association, condominium community or housing cooperative – all better known as community associations. In Washington, around 2.4M residents occupy roughly 944K homes in more than 10K communities. The data was compiled by Foundation for Community Research, which projects another 5K communities will join the list in 2023 across the U.S.