Spokane County assessor: Most homes see minor value increase while downtown buildings continue downward trend

• X
• Email
• Reddit
• SMS

Spokane County’s housing market saw another year of stability, while downtown commercial properties continue to lose their pizazz.

The Spokane County Assessor’s Office mailed property assessments for 2027 taxes on June 1 to owners of more than 214,000 commercial, residential and vacant plots across the county. The valuations are the county’s estimates as of Jan. 1, which tend to be lower than what the property could fetch on the market.

Spokane County Assessor Tom Konis said the latest data shows a calming of the real estate market since the pandemic-era boom. From 2021 to 2022, the average single family home in the county jumped in value by an average of $100,000. Single residential units saw just a 0.83% increase in the assessments just mailed out.

Countywide, the average assessed value of a single family residence was $441,703 for 2027 taxes.

“Thank goodness we aren’t more volatile,” Konis said.

Karene Garlich-Loman, immediate past president of the Spokane Realtors Association, said the county’s data is consistent with what she sees in the field. The housing market appears to be plateauing post-pandemic.

“I wouldn’t say it out loud, but I think we’re starting to see just a hair of a dip,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it’s enough to even talk about yet, but I have noticed a small dip.”

The minimal change makes it easier for property owners to budget; Konis said his office heard from several residents during the pandemic who were unprepared to absorb such a monumental increase – which came at a time of high economic and housing instability.

“That was hard on people,” Konis said. “It really was.”

The largest chunk of a homeowner’s taxes – often more than 50% – goes to schools. About 15% of Spokane County property taxes go to cities and towns. Fire districts get about 12% of the pie, and the county government receives 8%. Smaller pieces go toward road funds, libraries, cemeteries and parks.

Konis helped develop and see to the finish line expanded opportunities for property owners to get some respite from property taxes during the state’s legislative session earlier this year. The recently approved state law will expand property tax exemptions for seniors, disabled people and veterans starting in 2027.

Konis estimates an additional 5,000 Spokane County residents will now qualify for the expanded exemption program, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review. His office plans to roll out more information on how residents can apply later this year.

Residential properties in Spokane Valley, Millwood and the West Plains saw the greatest year to year increases, according to county data. Garlich-Loman said that data doesn’t show the full picture of housing in the region, however.

“I’m licensed in three states: Washington, Idaho, and Utah, and I see more people leaving Washington for Idaho than I do hotspots here in Spokane,” she said.

Garlich-Loman said the consensus among those leaving the state is desire for a lower cost of living, and to get away from Washington’s more liberal policies, taxing and otherwise.

A pair of surveys released earlier this year were consistent with her observations; more than two-thirds of residents and business owners who responded said they were contemplating an exodus.

“Even though you pay more for a house in Idaho, you pay significantly less on property taxes and utilities over there,” Garlich-Loman said. “So people are willing to pay more for the house to get away from the politics and have less, other, outgoing bills.”

While the housing market mostly maintained stability, the commercial side of things continues to struggle. Office spaces across the county continue to decline in value since the pandemic disrupted the business sector, decreasing by 1.3% countywide. Konis said he hears from Realtors that office space is becoming increasingly hard to move.

“Nobody wants it, downtown especially,” Konis said.

The tale of vacant office buildings and lost value is particularly evident in Spokane’s downtown core, where office valuations fell by more than 4%. The dip maintains a multiyear backslide for Spokane’s large downtown office buildings, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.

The region’s perennial conversation around the state of public safety, opportunities and culture in Spokane’s downtown, warranted or not, appears to have also impacted residential buildings. Apartment complexes in downtown Spokane decreased in value by more than 5%, according to the assessor’s office.

City centers across the country are grappling with a similar decline in values. The King County Assessor’s Office found earlier this year that Seattle’s largest buildings lost a combined $3.7 billion in value since 2022, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

“I think this period is particularly hard because so many people are working remotely,” Konis said. “Things have just changed since COVID.”

Undeveloped commercial and residential land continues to be a hot commodity, rising by more than 6%, according to the data. Medical office valuations also rose by more than 5%.

On the housing side, manufactured homes continue to rise in value, according to assessor’s office data. The average price of a manufactured home rose by more than 2%. That follows a dramatic increase of 13% from 2024 to 2025. Konis said he believes the increase is being driven by the popularity of the units as starter homes.

“We’re only guessing, but it’s almost the only entry-level house left anymore,” Konis said.

Manufactured homes are also cheaper to construct, and more efficient uses of space and time, which could be the allure for developers and policymakers hoping to meet housing demands.

“We can’t throw a thousand of these things up, stick houses, in a reasonable amount of time,” Konis said. “But you can get somebody into something like that pretty quickly.”

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

• Jesse Tinsley

  Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.

• Jim Meehan

  Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.

• Molly Quinn

  There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.

• Rob Curley

  Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.

Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox

Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.

Top Stories in Local Government

Spokane County joins its largest city in considering public safety sales tax to aid ailing finances

• Spokane City Council approves new racing, aggressive driving fines

• Rob, Rob and Bob face off for Valley state House seat

• Spokane County Commission to consider public safety sales tax that wouldn't need voter approval

Building dignity through local work today

Dignified Workday is a rapidly growing low-barrier employment program in Spokane that is reshaping how the community supports individuals experiencing homelessness and instability.