Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Once again the Tri-Cities has resisted the downward trend of property values across the nation, and finds itself in contrast with rising property valuations. Franklin County has been the fastest growing county in the state for the last two years and also one of the fastest growing in the nation. Officials in Franklin County expect values to continue to rise at an average of 3-4 percent as they prepare to mail out revaluation notices within the next month. Benton County anticipates remaining at the current level.

Many other communities within our state are facing devaluation at a significant rate which in turn decreases their tax base. For many its been decades since they’ve lost ground in property valuations. According to a recent market survey in the Tri-Cities, the first quarter of 2010 shows that the median residential resale price encompassing the bicounty area is $176,600, thus being an almost 6 percent increase over the entire year of 2008.

Franklin County continues to see it’s main increase in values due to the development of West Pasco and some large farms. Meanwhile, there are some pockets of decrease in the county, mostly around the Connell area because of unspecified market conditions there.

Much of the success of the Tri-Cities’ ability to remain strong, is due to the stimulus money that came into the Hanford cleanup projects, however, many individuals and organizations have worked diligently to diversify our community so that not all economic strength comes from strictly the Hanford area, but instead comes from growth in agricultural, food processing, and tourism dollars. They have been very successful in their endeavors which in turn have created the economic stability that the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities enjoy today.

October 2010 marks the move date for the Z Place Salon & Spa in Kennewick to their new home in the Southridge area of town. This move will allow for a expansion of services as well as more room for staff & clients – approximately 3 times as much room! The groundbreaking for the new building will be Thursday June 3rd at 9 am. The owners, Vonda and Doug Smith, plan to have two other spots in the facility to lease out – with a potential for a restaurant and perhaps a clothing store. The new facility will allow clients from Richland, Pasco and West Richland easier access via the highway to this location, without having to travel through traffic to their current location. Southridge is considered to be the new growth area in the Tri-Cities, with a proposed new restaurant and water park in the works as well as current tenants HAPO Credit Union, KGH medical center, and wine tasting rooms. To visit Z Place online, go to www.zplacesalonspa.com

Venture capitalism has gone through some rough patches over the last few years, needing to change the types of businesses to invest in, and with that change from software and biotechnology comes the shift into the fields of clean energy technology. That shift feeds right into the hands of many wonderful companies here in the Tri Cities, which is quickly becoming a nexus for this field, and that in itself is potentially attracting new business to the area.  Pacific Northwest National Labs has involved itself in the field of virtualization and visualization as a type of search technology, which can “Capture, analyze and understand data at volumes and rates that push the frontiers of current technologies.”  According to PNNL leaders, the sky’s the limit with this technology which makes it very attractive to investors, and that bodes well for continuing growth of the Tri Cities.