Spokane's Best and Worst Neighborhoods of 2022

Are you looking for a home in Spokane, WA and wondering which neighborhoods are the best, which ones fit your personality and which ones are just downright terrible? Well this is exactly what you’re looking for so let’s get into. 

First off, fortunately and unfortunately as a licensed Realtor here in the state of Washington, I cannot and will not give you any of my own opinion on any neighborhood here in Spokane. I love all neighborhoods equally and think they each provide something different and unique to them and all of them have their own pros and cons but I do have to abide by FAIR housing laws and cannot steer you in any one direction. What I can do, and it’s really one of my favorite things to do, is talk about facts and figures and really show you some solid data for each neighborhood. So in this case the worst neighborhood might be the one that appreciated the least in 2022 or had the lowest number of sales which will point out which neighborhoods are showing more interest from other home buyers and have caused the prices to go up more. 

We’re going to stick to larger neighborhoods and even use zip codes here in Spokane because any neighborhood that sees less than 15 homes sell in a month can have some pretty skewed numbers. 

If you have any interest in looking at a specific neighborhood or zip code in Spokane and want more information, you can head to my website, click view homes for sale, type in the area you’re looking for and then head over to market insights where you can see all the monthly data and even subscribe to get update information sent to you every month. Additionally, we’re building out the most in-depth neighborhood guide for Spokane on our website right now so you can hover over buyers at the top of the screen, click explore Spokane neighborhoods, select which area of town and which specific neighborhood and then we have all the consolidated information on that neighborhood in one spot. From blogs on restaurants, schools and things to do, updated market reports and homes for sale just in that area. I think it’s an awesome tool for those moving to Spokane but let me know what you think down in the comments if you end up checking it out.

#3 Worst Neighborhood: Liberty Lake (99019)

Let’s get started with the worst neighborhoods in Spokane for 2022 starting with our number three spot which is the 99019 zip code otherwise known as Liberty Lake. 

Liberty lake is located on the easternmost  portion of the Spokane metro and the state of Washington just a few minutes from the Idaho border.  

Now it may or may not be surprising that the town of Liberty lake made it into our “worst” category but in terms of appreciation that area has seen a four point one percent decrease in home prices in the last year which is very interesting. 

Liberty lake is considered one of Spokane’s more luxury markets with an average home price around six hundred thousand and consistently selling homes well over a million dollars every single month. But when the market goes down, the luxury market always takes the biggest hit. 

Oddly enough, we’ve actually had more sales of million dollar plus homes this year than we did last year, the buyers are just getting steep discounts to balance out the rise in interest rates. The monthly payment has gone from four thousand to well over six thousand a month on a million dollar home. We’ve also seen a slight decrease in the number of cash buyers there as well which could be because of the market moving down and the emotional toll it takes buying something for over a million in cash and watching the value go down. 

Overall this is a very beautiful area with a golf course, lake, a nature area with tons of hiking trails and even a growing community as there is a lot of new construction going on in the area bringing more small local businesses to Liberty Lake. 

According to Niche.com, the 99019 zip code ranks as an A- which is good for the Spokane area. The category that scores the lowest is the cost of living due to the amount of luxury homes compared to the average income here in the Spokane area. 

#2 Worst Neighborhood: Northwest Spokane (99208)

Next up in the worst places to live category is the 99208 zip code which is home to 5 mile prairie, indian trail and the balboa neighborhood. 

This area of Spokane has about fifty five thousand residents and is located on the North west portion of Spokane. It can take about 20 to 25 minutes to make your way to downtown Spokane or the freeway as there isn’t a fast way to get there, you just have to navigate the arterials the whole way. 

Now this area has seen a drop five point seven percent from this time last year. November of 2021 prices were about four hundred and fifty thousand, they made their way up to five hundred and thirty thousand and have now fallen to four hundred and twenty six thousand. It is pretty crazy to see some neighborhoods that have declined over a hundred thousand dollars in the last six months. 

Now, why did this happen? Niche.com rates the area as a B+ which is still good for Spokane, there's a lot of new construction going on and brand new schools in the area and a higher average purchase price. It seems like this wouldn’t be on the worst neighborhood list but here’s what happened. 

There was so much demand for this neighborhood in early 2021, that prices went up extremely fast. As you can see, prices increased between November of 2020 to May of 2021 by thirty three percent which is just insane. Then they stayed steady for a little while and had another rapid increase of sixteen percent between the start of 2022 to April of 2022. This frenzied demand in the area caused prices to increase too much and they’re working their way back down rather quickly. It’ll be interesting to see if they continue downward or if we’ve found our bottom. 

But if you’re someone that is looking to buy a home in the area soon and concerned if prices are going to keep going down I want you to check this out. 

What I love to do with these maps right now is pretend like the pandemic housing market didn’t happen. I’ll then draw a line from where prices were in 2019 and keep the same angle that the homes were appreciating in the normal market and see where that puts me on the graph. 

Between 2012 and 2019, homes in this area have appreciated by 8% on average. So if we just assume an increase of 8% in 2020, 2021, and 2022 that would put it at a median price of $423,000 which is pretty much exactly where we are at today. So the question is, are we exactly where we should be for prices? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. 

#1 Worst Neighborhood: Cheney (99004)

The final worst neighborhood to live in is the 99004 zip code otherwise known as Cheney. 

Cheney is a small college/farm town to the west of Spokane with a population of about thirteen thousand people and twenty one thousand in the entire zip code. It’s home to Eastern Washington University, one of the six state universities we have in Washington. It’s a quiet town and most people live out there because they work at the university or it might be easier to commute to work on the west plains at some of the warehouses and factories. 

But these outlier towns around Spokane became hot spots during the crazy housing market because it was the only place that many people could afford to purchase a home. The city was getting so hot and competitive that people were forced to move out to Cheney in order to actually get into a home which drove up the prices there in an inorganic way. So prices have dropped in that area about fourteen percent which is a huge drop. The median sale price last a year ago was four hundred and fourteen thousand and now it’s down to three hundred and fifty two thousand. 

I think this will be an interesting market to watch in the next few years as it will probably rebound slower than the city so those people that bought in 2022 and maybe need to sell in 2024 or 2025 could be looking at needing to come up with some creative solutions. 

Overall, Niche.com rates Cheney a B mostly with the rise in the cost of housing being the one thing bringing its score down. 

Now we move on to the topic that I know you’ve all been waiting for, which neighborhoods are the best here in Spokane, WA. Before you watch, drop a comment down below and let me know which neighborhoods you think appreciated the most and would be considered the best here in Spokane. 

I think the thing to note about the next three neighborhoods I’m about to mention is that they aren’t super flashy, but without a doubt they are walkable, have great amenities and communities, highly rated schools and so on but I could have said that about the last three neighborhoods as well. The neighborhoods that seemed like the best investment in 2021 were actually the worst investment and these neighborhoods I’m about to show you stayed steady and under the radar of all the craziness of the last couple of years. 

#3 Best Neighborhood: West Central Valley (99206)

The number three spot for best neighborhood was the zip code 99206. This is the western portion of the Central Valley basically between Argonne which then becomes Dishman-Mica and Pines rd. This is a large suburban neighborhood with about forty thousand people and the amenities are growing. You have two of Spokane’s best bbq places in this area, TT’s and Outlaw, close proximity to the Dishman hills which is a huge conservation area great for hiking and just overall there has been a lot of growth in the things to do category in this portion of the Valley. For a long time, many people lived in the Valley but there really wasn’t anything interesting out there but now it is more common for people to want to visit specific businesses in the area and make a trip to that part of town. 

Now, 99206 saw a very healthy six and a half percent increase over the last year and when it comes to making a solid and safe investment, these are the types of returns we hope to see. But I think it makes sense with the type of neighborhood. It’s not that old of a neighborhood, built largely in the 70’s, it’s dense and a lot of homes are relatively the same from that time period so it makes sense to me that there would be this large spike in over excited buyer interest from fancy new homes. 

It’s rated as a solid B+ neighborhood with B+ schools which again makes total sense to me as to why it was just steady and consistent throughout the last year. 

#2 Best Neighborhood: West Plains (99224)

The number two spot for best neighborhood in Spokane in 2022 was the zip code 99224. These are your homes along the western edge of Spokane in the Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood, Eagle ridge, Sunset hill, and along the sunset highway before Airway heights. 

You have a mixture of everything in this area from very suburban, everything looks the same HOA neighborhoods to homes on acreage to homes with beautiful views of the city but this area proved to be a steady bet for all that we’ve seen over the last couple of years. 

Prices over the last year have increased from four hundred and ten thousand to four hundred and fifty two thousand showing a solid increase of over ten percent. I know for me, I showed more houses on the sunset hill this year than my entire career combined, honestly I don’t think I had shown a house in that neighborhood so there was a lot of inventory that opened and made people jump on an opportunity to live in a really quiet area that is surrounded by trees. You get a really great feeling of being up above the city in the trees but you’re really only five minutes to downtown. 

According to Niche.com this area is a B+ and if you scroll down you can see that all the schools associated with this location are all A rated schools. 

And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the best neighborhood in Spokane waaaass… 

#1 Best Neighborhood: West South Hill (99203)

This is the western half of the South Hill home to neighborhoods like Comstock, cliff/cannon, manito, and rockwood. 

This neighborhood has seen a really impressive increase of 28% in median home sale price over the last year. And you can see that it had the same impressive growth from January to April as most neighborhoods did, and then it quickly fell off and has been increasing again ever since. 

This area is known for its beautiful parks which the neighborhoods are all named after like Comstock and Manito as well as its well kept community. There aren’t any HOA’s in this area but people just tend to take great care of their properties and take a lot of pride of ownership in this area. 

You have some wonderful small businesses like the Scoop and their sister company Hidden Bagels down by comstock and up further you have multiple breweries, restaurants, and the fairly new Thomas Hammer Reserve that are all very easily walked to in the warmer months. 

Currently home prices are sitting at a median of five hundred and seventy five thousand dollars but you can easily go up from there near the parks where homes have recently sold for well over two million. 

It’s to no surprise that Niche.com rated it an A with all of the schools being A rated as well. 

If you would like more information on any of the neighborhoods I talked about today or any other neighborhoods, Niche.com is a great resource but down in the description is a link to my website where we have a page for every neighborhood in spokane with blogs about where to eat, what schools are in the area, and you can also see up to date market data right there as well because Niche.com isn’t great with updating their numbers all the time. 

And of course, if you can’t find the information you are looking for, please reach out to me! You can use the link down in the description to schedule a call with me directly on my calendar at a time that is convenient for you.