Whatcom County & Bellingham Housing, Population, Cost of Living, and Market History Report

BuyingRE Industry StuffReal Estate Investment

Jun 29

OK, sooo... exactly how big is Whatcom County?

Washington State is home to 39 different counties.

Compare that to Texas which has 254 counties.In Washington, Whatcom County ranks #12 in terms of area, with about 2107 square miles of land and another 397 square miles of water.By population, we rank #9 with about 241,400 residents.Among Whatcom County's 7 different cities, the largest is Bellingham with a population of about 92,000.Second is Lynden, with a population most recently reported at 16,400.Third is Ferndale, with about 15,500.

Fun Fact:

Bellingham's annual average temperature is 59 degrees F. The hottest day on record was August 12, 2021, at 100 degrees F.

Are we growing, staying flat, or shrinking?

Whatcom County's population is definitely growing.In 2010 the County had a population of about 201,000 --or 40,000 less than today.That means we've grown by about 20% in those 12 years.Compare that to America as a whole, which only grew 7.4% in the decade beginning in 2010.For the US, that was the 2nd slowest decade of growth since the first census was taken in 1790, and only 0.1% behind the slowest decade ever: the 1930's.Bellingham has been growing too.Since 2010 B'ham's population has jumped from 81,000 to 92,000, or about 13.6%.We're happy we're not growing like Seattle, which jumped 29.05% in that same period.Population growth has a material effect on pretty much everything related to the local economy and certainly to housing.We'll talk more about that later in this blog post.The chart below shows Bellingham's growth since 1980, when we had a population of about 46,000.

Fun Fact:

Whatcom County's five largest employers are:

PeaceHealth
Western Washington University
Bellingham School District
Whatcom County
City of Bellingham

What's the cost of living here?

Cost of living can be stated in simple dollars and cents... but that leaves out half of the equation.The second half of the equation is, how much income can the average worker earn?According to the latest (2020) data on census.gov, the median household income in Whatcom County is about $65,420.Nation-wide, the median household income is $67,521 -- a couple grand higher than B'ham.In the generally-accepted national "cost of living" websites like bestplaces.net, the average cost of living in the US would score an even 100.Whatcom County scores 118.3 -- or 18.3% more expensive than the average US town.Bellingham scores 123.2.The categories measured (with the Bellingham scores) are as follows:

Food and Groceries: 102.8
Housing: 185.9
Utilities: 69.7
Transportation: 82
Health: 97.2
Clothing, restaurants, repair services, entertainment, etc.: 108.2

The gap between median income and median home price is a big topic of conversation and concern locally.The average US median income-to-home-price ratio is 6.35 times.In Whatcom County, that ratio is 9.48 timesIn Bellingham, it is 11.08 times.We'll look more specifically at home prices later in this blog post.

Fun Fact:

In 2018, Bellingham's breweries combined won 46 medals at national and international brewery competitions.

What kind of housing exists in Bellingham?

Considering that Bellingham is a college town, it's probably no surprise to learn that 54% of our housing is tenant-occupied.A substantial 48.9% of all housing units are multi-family (apartments) -- and that number is going up.In 2021, the City of Bellingham reports that 1,286 permits were issued for new residential housing units.223 of those permits related to single family homes.1063 were related to multi-family apartment units -- 39.5% higher than the next highest year on record (2004) for number of units permitted.Of the 46% of all units that are owner occupied, by far the most common configuration is the 3 bedroom 2 bath -- more than all the other configurations combined.Here's a graph of that style, and the other configurations most prevalent here:To see dozens of wonderful graphs, maps and images tied to Bellingham housing data, visit this unique website.

Fun Fact:

Whatcom County's Mt. Baker Ski Area set the world record for the greatest snowfall in one season. The record was set in the 1998-99 winter, and measured 1,140 inches -- or 95 feet!

What about the rental market?

The past several years have seen rental rates increase as scarcity of supply intensified.Then, as interest rates recently rose and some buyers could no longer qualify for a mortgage but still needed housing in Bellingham... that scarcity intensified further.There is no formal "tenant placement service" in Bellingham, so our data in this area is a mixture of personal, anecdotal, and some phone research with professional property managers.We personally own eight 2-bedroom apartment units.One of our tenants just bought a house and will be moving out by the end of August.I began receiving messages from friends of the other tenants within 24 hours of finding out about the impending vacancy, asking if they can sign a lease now.I don't suspect that I will have to advertise the vacancy.I called Landmark Property Management, the area's largest such company, to ask a few questions.Here's what I learned:Landmark, with about 3300 units under management, currently has 16 units available for immediate move-in.That equates to a <1/2% vacancy rate.All 16 have applications coming in.The manager I spoke with said they have seen a definite uptick in rental demand since interest rates increased, forcing some would-be buyers out of the buyer pool and into the renter pool.She said their new construction apartments are leasing sight-unseen at $1850/mo. and up for a 2-bedroom.If you look on Landmark's vacant properties page you'll find prices in this general area:

1-bed apartments: $1000-$1300
2-bed apartments: $1550 - $2000
3-bed houses & apartments: $2100 - $3000

Fun Fact:

Bellingham's annual average temperature is 59 degrees F. The hottest day on record was August 12, 2021, at 100 degrees F.

Let's wrap with a look at the past 15 years of median sale prices in Bellingham

Whatcom County and its various cities and areas, including Bellingham, have proven to be a solid market to invest in real estate.For this pricing case study, I'm going to zero in on Bellingham.The table below annual median price from each year going back to 2006, and calculated price increases or decreases.Here's that table:If you bought in 2006 and held, your average year-over-year price increase has been about 5.7%.No two years are the same, as the table shows.But if that annual average appreciation of 5.7% continues, then in 6 more years the median price of a Bellingham home will crest $1,000,000.