Washington State home buying: prices, the graduated REET and WSHFC help

#What a Washington paycheck buys

Washington’s median home value is the 5th-highest among the 50 states and DC. The median household earns $99,389, above the national median, and the median home costs 6.1 times that income — the 4th-highest ratio in the country, against 4.4 for the US.

Freddie Mac suggests keeping housing costs under 30% of gross income. On Washington’s median income that is $2,485 a month, which supports a home of about $325,000 with 10% down at today’s average rate — $277,200 below the median value, or 54% of it. Buying the median home within the guideline takes about $184,000 a year. Enter your own income and debts in the affordability calculator.

#The monthly cost of the median Washington home

The down payment alone is $60,220 at 10%. Earthquake coverage is not part of a standard homeowners policy, so if you want it, price it separately. Adjust the inputs in the mortgage payment calculator.

#Washington’s graduated real estate excise tax

Washington’s Department of Revenue applies a graduated rate to the state portion of the real estate excise tax (REET). Each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside its bracket:

The Department says the seller usually pays REET; if the seller doesn’t, the buyer becomes responsible. As a buyer, you’ll meet it again when you sell. The brackets change on January 1, 2027, when the first threshold rises to $551,000, with the others moving up by the same amount. Washington has no separate state tax on recording the mortgage. Typical closing costs otherwise run 2%–5% of the price ($12,044–$30,110 on the median home); the closing cost calculator applies the graduated schedule.

#WSHFC Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission lends through participating lenders, and every Commission home loan includes down payment assistance as a second loan. Most of that assistance is payment-deferred: nothing is due until you sell, refinance, move out or pay off the first mortgage.

On the median home with 10% down, the top Home Advantage amount would be about $27,099. Assistance doesn’t lower the price, so the payment-to-income math above still applies; it helps with the cash to close. See first-time home buyer programs for how state programs compare.

#Property tax and no state income tax

Washington’s effective property tax rate is 0.79%, below the national 0.89% and the 23rd-highest among the 50 states and DC. In dollars, the median homeowner pays $4,729 a year, the 10th-highest amount in the country. Washington doesn’t tax wages and salaries. Lenders qualify you on gross income either way, but the absence of a state income tax leaves more take-home pay for the mortgage than the same salary would in a state that has one.

#Seattle and the rest of Washington

The City of Seattle’s median home value of $950,800 is 1.6 times the state median, and its median household earns $118,745. Renting is more common in the city: 41.9% of Seattle homes are owner-occupied, against 62.9% statewide — and the state’s owner share is itself smaller than the national 65.3%. For city numbers and programs, see the Seattle housing guide. If you’re weighing whether to keep renting, the rent vs buy calculator opens with Washington’s median price and rent of $1,824/mo.