Off Road 114 in Pasco, crews are framing townhomes in the Columbia Shores development. Across the rivers in Richland, hard hats are moving on the Badger Heights apartment job at 3601 Grapeview St. This is what twenty years of steady growth looks like on the ground. By the account of the builders and agents working the Mid-Columbia, it is not finished.
“The market is a little volatile right now,” said Jason Wilkinson, who owns the homebuilding firm Prodigy Homes.
Permits keep coming
The paperwork backs him up, volatility and all. Single-family permits hit 1,126 through August 2026, the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities counted, up more than 200, or 25%, from the same stretch of last year. Townhouses climbed to 83 permits, from 55 a year earlier and 27 in 2024. Multifamily logged 29, seven times last year’s pace, though still shy of the 66 posted in 2024.
People keep arriving too. Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland, home to just under 260,000 residents, added more than 5,700 people in 2026, about 2% growth. The wider metro area reached an estimated 329,100, or 6,225 more than the 2025 figure.
Room to choose
After a hot start to the year, sales leveled off or slipped a bit below prior-year marks. More than 1,300 homes stood listed for sale in August 2026, Tri-City Association of Realtors data show, the deepest pool since 2013. Median prices have steadied just under the record $445,900 set in April 2026.
Realtor Alessandra Dearing hears the change in conversation. Fewer buyers walk in with a fixed bedroom count. More are planning for a mother who may move in someday, or an adult child still at home. Some just want somewhere to put the RV.
“I had a Burbank listing this summer that received four offers within five days and ultimately closed for $430,000 after being listed at $415,000,” she said. “That happened in the same broader market where other homes were taking weeks to sell.”
The builder squeeze
Contractors feel pressure from both ends. The industry added 22,000 jobs across the country in August 2026, and unemployment fell to a record low of 3.1%, the Associated General Contractors of America reported. Average hourly earnings climbed to $39.36, up 5% in a year and 21% above the $32.53 pay of the average private-sector production worker. The producer price index for inputs rose 8.9% in August, led by petroleum. Diesel is up nearly 78%, metals by 20% or more.
“Construction firms are being squeezed by tariff- and war-induced materials cost increases, even as they boost wages to attract personnel,” said Ken Simonson, the group’s chief economist.
Owners who stay put are still spending, just smaller. Residential remodel and repair permits reached 189 through August 2026, more than triple the 2025 count and more than double 2024. “It seems that money is tighter or harder to access with interest rates so high,” said Brad Rew of Gale-Rew Construction. If inflation cools, he added, a wave of waiting projects could start.
Wilkinson is watching west Pasco and West Richland with interest. His Harmony Heights development counts four finished homes and four more under construction. “There may be some bumps along the way, but I’m very optimistic about the long-term future of residential construction here.”
