2023 Affordable Housing Cost Data Report
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- 2024 Commercereports 2023 Affordable Housing Cost Data Hd Final B88D4Fca B3
Summary
The 2023 Affordable Housing Cost Data Report of the Washington State Department of Commerce Housing Division, a report to the Legislature submitted November 12, 2024 pursuant to RCW 43.185A.190. It presents final development cost data for projects funded through the state Housing Trust Fund that submitted certified cost reports in state fiscal year 2023, July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, and states that the sample sizes are too small to draw conclusions about trends. For multifamily projects it reports a median of 56 units per project, a median cost of $301,744 per unit, down $14,353 from $316,097, and a median of $494 per square foot, with regional medians from $221,784 in rural areas to $356,813 in King County. It reports a median cost of $285,711 for two new construction homeownership projects and appends a project list.
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“2023 Affordable Housing Cost Data Report.”
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2023 Affordable Housing
Cost Data Report
Submitted pursuant to RCW 43.185A.190
November 12, 2024
HOUSING DIVISION Report to the Legislature
Director Mike Fong
v3.5
Acknowledgments
Washington State Department of Commerce
Corina Grigoras, Assistant Director, Housing
Division
Graham Parrington, Housing Policy and Strategic
Initiatives Unit, Senior Policy Coordinator
Ann Campbell, Homeownership Unit Managing
Director
Angela Snow, Homeownership Unit, Capital
Programs Supervisor
Shawn Slape, Multifamily Housing Unit Acting
Managing Director
Nathan Lichti, Multifamily Housing Unit Housing
Investment Manager
Sean Harrington, Multifamily Housing Unit, Capacity
Building Program Lead
1011 Plum St. SE
P.O. Box 42525
Olympia, WA 98504-2525
www.commerce.wa.gov
For people with disabilities, this report is available on
request in other formats. To submit a request, please
call 7-1-1 and ask to be connected to 360-725-4000.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 2
2.0
Table of Contents
Executive summary...................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Cost data and cost containment ................................................................................................................... 6
2023 report on Housing Trust Fund projects................................................................................................. 7
Appendix A: Full list of fiscal year 2023 HTF projects ................................................................................. 11
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 3
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Executive summary
Overview
The Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the Washington State Housing Finance
Commission (Commission) administer the two major programs that provide resources to develop and
preserve affordable housing in Washington: Commerce’s state Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and the
Commission’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The two entities collaborate on policies and
coordinate investments in affordable housing across the state.
Reporting requirements
In 2017, the Legislature directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to analyze the
costs of developing housing affordable 1 to households making less than 80% of the area median income
adjusted by household size. In the final report, published in January 2019, JLARC made recommendations to
Commerce and the Commission to improve cost efficiency, controls, and monitoring.
In 2019, the Legislature included the JLARC report recommendations in the 2019-21 capital budget (Section
1029). In 2023, the Legislature codified the cost data reporting requirements into RCW 43.185A.190:
(2) All housing trust fund loan or grant recipients, except for those receiving preservation awards under
RCW 43.185A.180, must provide certified final development cost reports to the department in a form acceptable to
the department. The department must use the certified final development cost reports data as part of its cost
containment policy and to report to the legislature. Beginning December 1, 2023, and continuing every odd-numbered
year, the department must provide the appropriate committees of the legislature with a report of its final cost data
for each project funded through the housing trust fund. Such cost data must, at a minimum, include:
(a) Total development cost per unit for each project completed within the past two complete fiscal years; and
(b) Descriptive statistics such as average and median per unit costs, regional cost variation, and other costs that the
department deems necessary to improve cost controls and enhance understanding of development costs.
This report provides the data and analysis necessary to enhance the understanding of Commerce HTF-funded
affordable housing development costs, as required by the Legislature. The data in this report includes projects
that have completed their HTF-funded housing development phase and submitted their final development cost
data to Commerce during state fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023). The numbers provided come
from the Certified Public Accountant-prepared cost certifications. The analysis relies on benchmarks
established in previous reports, including a series of assumptions and definitions that allow for consistent
measures and data characteristics across the two programs and state agencies.
The Commission produced a separate report for 2023. Cost data for fiscal year 2022 is presented in the 2022
Annual Affordable Housing Cost Data Report, which was published jointly with the Commission.
1 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as a dwelling that costs 30% or less of a
household's income, including utilities.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 4
Summary of data
The sample sizes of cost certifications for this reporting period and previous reporting periods are too small to
draw meaningful conclusions about changes or trends in affordable housing development costs.
Multifamily housing data summary
Median units per multifamily project: 56, a decrease of 43 from the previous year (median 99 units/project)
Median cost per multifamily unit: $301,744, a $14,353 decrease from the previous year ($316,097)
Median multifamily costs range from $221,784 in rural regions to $356,813 in King County
LIHTC projects represent a majority of reporting projects (81%) and have a median cost of $305,445 per
unit ($494 per square foot)
Non-LIHTC multifamily projects (four) reported a median cost of $200,350 per unit ($481 per square foot)
Median cost per square foot: $494, an increase of $102 from the previous year
Median cost per square foot ranges from $299 in rural areas2 to $551 in King County
As of July 1, 2023, only 26% of HTF-funded multifamily project awardees have provided a cost certification
along with their organizational financial audits, as specified in their contract documents. Commerce
established procedures to follow up with contractors on delinquent reports to eliminate the potential for
noncompliance with cost certification submissions.
Homeownership data summary
In 2023, two completed new construction homeownership projects submitted total development cost
certifications (see the Data definitions and methodology section). Home types include single-family homes,
duplexes, townhomes, condominiums and cottage-style housing.
Median cost of 2023 new construction for a home using Housing Trust Fund resources: $285,711
Commerce homeownership programs provide funding resources for non-construction projects that create new
homeownership opportunities, including down payment assistance and permanent affordability investments.
Neither of these homeownership approaches are required to provide certified development costs, as there is
no development expense metric to measure.
Between 2019 and 2023, Commerce funded 72 homeownership projects. Thirty-six (50%) of these projects
constructed new homes. Starting in July 2025, Commerce anticipates having sufficient cost certification data
to draw statistically relevant metrics.
2 See the regional definitions under New construction costs by regions subsection.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 5
Introduction
Housing Trust Fund
Commerce administers the Housing Trust Fund (HTF), a state program that makes grants and low-interest
loans for low-income affordable housing, including multifamily housing projects and homeownership projects.
Commerce and the Commission collaborate on policies and partner on making investments in affordable
housing across the state. In any given year, 30-50% of our projects “overlap,” meaning that they receive both a
HTF award and a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation of federal housing tax credits.
Cost data and cost containment
CPA cost certified data
Since 2019, HTF recipients are required to provide certified cost reports within 90 days of receiving a
Certificate of Occupancy or Notice of Substantial Completion. HTF policy allows recipients to provide this
report in conjunction with their financial audit to reduce costs, which may delay data collection by up to 12
months. This report reflects data that was received during the reporting period, which may include projects
that were completed (or placed in service) in the prior year.
Commerce uses the same reports that the Commission requires of LIHTC projects, but non-LIHTC projects
funded by the HTF alone complete a form adapted for Commerce. This is in recognition that these projects
represent a wide range of organizations and project types, extending beyond multifamily housing developed
with private investors (LIHTC) to shelters, transitional housing, homeownership, etc. Commerce's form closely
aligns with the LIHTC form, but additional projects (the 50-70% of projects not receiving LIHTC), use a state-
developed form for their submittals. A CPA must approve all of these reports.
Cost containment policy
Commerce does not apply a strict cost limit to its applicants, but scores applications competitively on cost per
unit and prioritizes less costly projects. There are wide-ranging variations of project types, including single-
family construction/renovation, congregate shelters, acquisition with rehabilitation, and new construction in all
types of communities. Therefore, Commerce finds the scoring to be a fairer method of recognizing and
containing costs.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 6
2023 report on Housing Trust Fund projects
Data definitions and methodology
Total Residential Development Cost
The data included in this report is based on Total Residential Development Costs (TRDC), which includes the
total cost of the residential portion of a project, including land, capitalized reserves, and offsite infrastructure
improvements.
Methodology
The analysis provided in this report describes or summarizes total residential development cost data. The
sample size for the data is too small to draw meaningful generalizations. It is important to note that this
method of analysis deals with quantitative data only and should not be used to generalize or make
unsupported conclusions about the cost of affordable housing projects not included in this data set.
The charts and points below highlight data Commerce received from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. The
full list is provided as Attachment A. Those submitted do not represent all projects Placed in Service 3 during
this period, as the policy allows the report to be provided with their next fiscal audit. This may delay reporting
for more than six months.
Note: Median costs, instead of average costs, are used to capture the central location of the dataset’s
distribution when outliers are present.
Project cost data for multifamily and homeownership projects
The data in the tables below are separated by multifamily projects and homeownership projects. Multifamily
and homeownership project data are presented to show regional variations and are further broken out to show
differences between new construction and land acquisition and rehabilitation of existing properties.
Summary of data from 2019 to present
Table 1 shows the number of projects that submitted TRDC certifications each year, the median number of
units per project, the median cost per unit and the median cost per square foot of residential space for
multifamily projects funded by the Housing Trust Fund.
Table 1: Total multifamily projects, median units per project, and median costs -
fiscal years 2019-2023
Fiscal year Total projects Median units per project Median cost per unit Median cost per square foot
2019 51 114 $207,496 $239
2020 43 108 $259,331 $392
2021 33 95 $262,331 $284
3 A project is considered "Placed in Service" once a certificate of occupancy, or equivalent, has been issued for the property. The Placed
in Service date is used to determine the start of the commitment/affordability period, annual reporting, and compliance monitoring.
Source: Housing Trust Fund Handbook, version 3-4-2021:
https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/file/164360899109?s=f89ytc0qtime7dl6wpqke5h2zl1jwzlm
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 7
Fiscal year Total projects Median units per project Median cost per unit Median cost per square foot
2022 32 99 $316,097 $392
2023 21 56 $301,744 $494
Total/median 180 99 $262,331 $392
Explainer: 2019-2022 Commerce data is combined with the Commission's data (based on prior joint reports). The Commission's summary report for
2023 included 31 Total Projects (median size of 80 units) and a median cost of $300,977 per unit and $384 per square foot.
Table 2 shows the number of homeownership projects that submitted Total Residential Development Cost
certifications each year, the median number of units per project and the median cost per unit of
homeownership projects funded by the Housing Trust Fund. Note that the acquisition and rehab
homeownership projects include mobile and manufactured home parks that were purchased by homeowner
cooperatives funded by the Housing Trust Fund.
Table 2: Total homeownership projects, median units per project, and median costs -
fiscal years 2019-2023
Fiscal year Total projects Median units per project Median cost per unit
2019 0 No data No data
2020 1 4 $275,000
2021 0 No data No data
2022 0 No data No data
2023 2 8 $285,711
Median of all new construction 3 6 $280,356
New construction costs by region, fiscal year 2023
Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6 present affordable housing costs by region.
Regions are defined in the HTF Handbook:
Urban: An urban area or community is defined as any municipality with a population greater than 25,000
and which does not fall into the definitions of rural. Projects located within a municipality with a population
less than 25,000, but which is adjacent to a city deemed "Urban" may be deemed functionally related to that
city and therefore also deemed Urban."
Rural:
• Counties with a population of less than 90,000, except for those cities within these counties with a
population of greater than 25,000. For example, Franklin County except the city of Pasco.
• Counties with a population greater than 90,000 but less than 390,000 when more than an aggregated
25% of that county's population resides in one substantially contiguous metropolitan area. For example:
Yakima County except the City of Yakima.
• Counties with a population greater than 390,000, but where the project is located in a sufficiently
remote location to be reasonably considered as not associated with an Urban center. For example:
Eatonville, Pierce County.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 8
King: King County is its own region.
Tables 3 and 4 present new construction by region, with multifamily projects in Table 3 and homeownership
projects in Table 4.
Table 3: New multifamily construction costs by region, fiscal year 2023
Region Number of projects Median units Median cost per unit Median cost per residential square foot
King County 5 92 $356,813 $551
Urban 9 65 $305,445 $452
Rural 7 46 $221,784 $299
Median of all new
Not applicable 56 $303,595 $522
construction
Table 4: New homeownership construction costs by region, fiscal year 2023
Region Number of projects Median units Median cost per unit
King County 1 8 $390,053
Urban 1 8 $181,369
Rural 0 No data No data
Acquisition and rehabilitation costs by region, fiscal year 2023
Tables 5 and 6 present acquisition and rehabilitation costs by region, with Table 5 showing multifamily
projects and Table 6 showing homeownership projects. Acquisition and rehabilitation projects include:
Acquisition of existing buildings for the purpose of preservation of homeownership and multifamily units
Financing of mobile/manufactured housing park purchases by park resident cooperatives to support the
creation of resident owned communities to preserve those parks as affordable housing
Rehabilitation of eligible homeownership and multifamily units
New construction projects may include acquisition of land for constructing new units, but those costs are
included in the new construction data in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 5: Multifamily acquisition/rehab costs by region, fiscal year 2023
County Number of projects Cost per unit* Cost per residential square foot*
King County 0 N/A N/A
Urban 0 N/A N/A
Rural 1 $190,949 $541
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 9
Table 6: Homeownership acquisition/rehab costs by region, fiscal year 2023
County Number of projects Cost per unit
King County 0 N/A
Urban 0 N/A
Rural 0 N/A
Overlap of LIHTC funding with Commerce-funded multifamily projects
Figure 1 shows the percentage of multifamily projects funded by Commerce that include Low Income Housing
Tax Credit funding. Homeownership projects do not include LIHTC funding.
Figure 1: LIHTC involvement in reported multifamily HTF-funded projects, 2023
No LIHTC funding, 4
projects, 19%
Includes LIHTC funding, 17
projects, 81%
Table 7 compares median cost per unit and median cost per residential square foot for fiscal year multifamily
projects that include LIHTC funding and those that did not include LIHTC funding.
Table 7: Median multifamily costs with LIHTC vs. non-LIHTC, fiscal year 2023
LIHTC status Number of projects Median cost per unit Median cost per residential square foot
LIHTC-fund 17 $305,445 $494
Non-LIHTC 4 $200,350 $481
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 10
Appendix A: Full list of fiscal year 2023 HTF projects
Table 8: Fiscal year 2023 multifamily projects
New construction
LIHTC Total Cost per Cost per Populations
Site name Site county OR Region
(Y/N) units unit square foot served*
acquisition/rehab
Hobson Place Yes King New construction King 92 $583,520 $511 CMI, MSN
CSC Housing Yes King New construction King 80 $356,813 $778 H
DESC Bitter Lake Yes King New construction King 100 $301,744 $551 H
Filipino Community Village Yes King New construction King 95 $331,484 $494 PD, S
Yancy Street PSH Yes King New construction King 44 $365,601 $709 H
Skagit County Permanent CMI, S, SUD,
Yes Skagit New construction Urban 70 $322,453 $534
Supportive Housing V, G
Evergreen Commons - 9% Yes Walla Walla New construction Urban 29 $347,956 $355 CMI, FwC, G
Kennewick Micro Homes No Benton New construction Urban 16 $209,752 $421 FwC, V, G
Compass Health Broadway PSH Yes Snohomish New construction Urban 81 $305,445 $558 H
Martin Way Yes Thurston New construction Urban 65 $262,945 $587 H
Mercy PeaceHealth Family
Yes Clark New construction Urban 69 $335,929 $384 PD/LH
Housing
MLK Senior Housing Yes Pierce New construction Urban 60 $366,960 $533 PD, S
Pendleton Place Yes Kitsap New construction Urban 72 $300,619 $452 H
Sinto Commons Yes Spokane New construction Urban 47 $286,194 $285 H
All View Motel Project No Clallam Acquisition/rehab Rural 26 $190,949 $541 CMI, FwC
7th and Hendricks Affordable CMI, DD, DV,
No Jefferson New construction Rural 43 $382,544 $331
Housing FwC, G
Meadow Point Family Housing Yes Okanogan New construction Rural 46 $297,642 $299 H
Orting Veterans Village No Pierce New construction Rural 35 $136,069 $737 V
Riverview Apartments Yes Whitman New construction Rural 56 $219,980 $228 H
The Orchard Yes Grant New construction Rural 48 $221,784 $205 PD/LH
Tieton Housing LLLP Yes Yakima New construction Rural 53 $282,437 $256 FW-P
Not included in data
Mabton Foothills Yakima Acquisition/rehab Rural 10 $10,927 $151 FwC
* Population categories: V=veterans; CMI=people with chronic mental illness; S=seniors; SUD=people with substance use disorder; G=general low-
income population; DD=people with developmental disability; DV=domestic violence; FwC=families with children; MSN=multiple special needs;
H=homeless, using the definition in RCW 43.185C.010; LH=Large household, with four or more residents occupying three or more bedrooms; FW-P:
permanent housing for farmworkers; PD=persons with physical disabilities.
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 11
Table 9: Fiscal year 2023 homeownership projects
Site New construction OR acquisition /
Site name Region Total units Cost per unit
county rehab
Deyoe Vista VI Thurston New construction Urban 8 $181,369
Lake City Phase 2 Spokane New construction Urban 8 $390,053
2023 ANNUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING COST DATA REPORT 12
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