Home prices have gone up but are still affordable

By ERIKA HAYASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Ron Smith, the president of the Buckley City Chamber of Commerce, says the price of housing has skyrocketed since he moved to town in 1975. He bought his home for $10,000, but today real estate agents estimate its worth at $135,000.

"When I came here in 1975, it was the end of the world. Anywhere you went beyond Buckley, it was like you dropped off the face of the Earth," recalls Smith. "Everything radiates out from Seattle or Tacoma and prices of houses have went up. People move further out."

Few people built homes in Buckley, says Smith, because they could not sell them. Not anymore.

Doug Walker, an agent from John L. Scott Real Estate in Puyallup, is working on 244 new homes in Buckley. Home development used to be centered in Bonney Lake, where 2,000 homes were built over the last 10 years, says Walker.

"We were just running out of land there," says Walker. "A lot of people come to get out of the rat race and enjoy the smaller, more family-type community."

Despite the increases, however, home prices here remain competitive.

"Homes in Buckley range from $150,000 to $250,000," says Walker. "If you were in South King County they start at $180,000 and go up to $300,000. And on the Eastside they start at $220,000 and go to $360,000."