Building bust

Many factors causing housing crunch

COLUMBIA BASIN — It’s no secret that housing is pretty tight right now. Our population is increasing, and new homes aren’t being built. The law of supply and demand is rearing its economic head. “if you look at a 30-year window, our population in Washington state has increased around 60%, and our housing has only continued to grow about 33%,” said Lindsay Brown, executive officer of the Central Washington Home Builders Association. “So at that rate, the finish line feels that much farther.” One factor in the scarcity is the lack of people to do the actual building, said Joel White, director of the Spokane Home Builders Association. The economic crash of 2008-09 affected the construction workforce in ways that have ramifications today.