The largest new townhome project in northeast Spokane is The Vistas at Beacon Hill, at 4502 N. Havana St. northeast of Esmeralda Golf Course. It was planned with 86 townhomes next to 140 apartments. The developer's own site lists those units as townhomes for rent. Starting rents run from $2,095 a month for a one-bedroom to $3,095 for the four-bedroom Beacon plan, with pre-leasing open for a fall and winter 2026 arrival. A buyer who expected to make an offer will find a lease application.
That surprise points to the bigger story in North Spokane's numbers. Northwest and northeast urban Spokane sell at nearly the same median price, yet they behave like two different markets. The difference comes from where new homes are being built. The northeast keeps adding new houses, and it has more listings for each sale. The northwest adds almost none, so its buyers compete for a fixed stock of resale homes.
Same median, different pace
Spokane REALTORS divides the north side into MLS sub-areas. A330 is labeled "NW urban N. of I-90" and A340 is labeled "NE urban N. of I-90." Mead, the "Y" area between Highways 2 and 395, and Five Mile each have their own codes. The association's monthly Market Activity reports show the two urban halves side by side, month after month.
| Closings in | NW urban median | NE urban median | NW active ÷ closed | NE active ÷ closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | $327,500 | $298,335 | 161 ÷ 88 ≈ 1.8 months | 164 ÷ 67 ≈ 2.4 months |
| July 2026 | $343,000 | $297,000 | 186 ÷ 66 ≈ 2.8 months | 193 ÷ 58 ≈ 3.3 months |
| August 2026 | $335,000 | $302,998 | 185 ÷ 64 ≈ 2.9 months | 197 ÷ 50 ≈ 3.9 months |
| September 2026 | $330,000 | $299,995 | 184 ÷ 70 ≈ 2.6 months | 196 ÷ 52 ≈ 3.8 months |
The months-of-supply columns are our own division of the association's active-listing and closed-sale counts. One month in one sub-area is a small sample. Four months running in the same direction is harder to dismiss. From June through September 2026, the gap between the two medians never went above about $46,000, and it fell to about $30,000 by September. Over the same stretch, the northeast carried roughly one more month of supply than the northwest.
The pattern also held a year ago. In September 2025 the northwest had 179 active listings against 62 closings and the northeast had 174 against 47, about 2.9 months and 3.7 months. It does not look like a one-season quirk.
In September 2026, each half had 59 pending sales. Buyer demand was the same on both sides of the north end, and the northeast simply had more homes for that demand to choose from.
The countywide picture sits between the two. Spokane County's September 2026 median was $419,995, up 1.2% from a year earlier, with 1,620 homes for sale and 3.0 months of supply, according to Spokane REALTORS' September report. Windermere's third-quarter regional report described the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area as balanced, with more inventory giving buyers more options and room to negotiate. By that measure, the northwest runs tighter than the county and the northeast runs a little looser.
The supply that only one side gets
The same reports count new-construction closings by sub-area, and the north side splits sharply here.
- NW urban, A330: 1 new-home sale in June 2026, 1 in July, 0 in August, 0 in September, and 0 in September 2025.
- NE urban, A340: 6 in June 2026, 2 in July, 4 in August, 12 in September, and 12 in September 2025.
In September 2026, 12 of the northeast's 52 closings were new homes. They averaged $374,463, well above the area's $299,995 median. So the new construction is not undercutting the area on price. It sits a step above the median, and it gives a northeast buyer a second option a northwest buyer rarely has. A resale seller in the northeast is competing with other listings and with a builder who can put a finished new home in front of the same buyer.
In the northwest, a buyer's choices are limited to whatever existing homeowners decide to list. That is why the same buyer demand clears its inventory faster.
Where the northeast's new homes come from
Some of the pipeline is a traditional subdivision. Hayden Homes markets The Reserve at Valley Springs as a northeast Spokane community, with a starting price of $449,990 and move-in-ready homes on N. Ainsworth Lane listed in the $539,990 to $579,990 range. Those are builder asking prices and can change.
A growing share is small infill made possible by city code. Spokane's Building Opportunity for Housing amendments took effect January 1, 2024. They removed lot-density maximums on lots under two acres, reduced minimum lot sizes and expanded the unit lot subdivision process. Follow-up amendments passed January 27, 2025, and took effect March 6, 2025.
City filings on the northeast side show what that looks like on the ground:
- N. Altamont St.: A proposed unit lot subdivision would divide one parcel into six single-family lots.
- 820 E. Crown Ave.: Urban Empire Homes LLC filed the Crown Ave Townhomes short plat for attached housing.
- 3028 E. South Riverton Ave.: Habitat for Humanity Spokane proposed five homes, four attached and one detached. The project received a Hearing Examiner decision on February 20, 2026.
None of these projects is large. Taken together, they show the northeast is still producing small amounts of new ownership housing, a few lots at a time, while the northwest's monthly new-home count stays at zero or one. This is general information about the market, not legal advice. Anyone weighing a lot split or a purchase that depends on one should confirm the rules for their parcel with the city and a qualified land-use professional.
The rental exception, and why it matters
Back to The Vistas. Under construction since 2025, it is the most visible new townhome project in the northeast and the one most likely to catch a buyer's eye. It adds housing without adding anything to buy. As of September 2026, a property manager was advertising two- and three-bedroom Vistas townhomes on N. Dearborn at $2,395 and $2,695 a month, with move-in dates at the end of November and on December 1.
So the northeast's looser for-sale numbers come from the builders and infill lots in the previous section, not from Beacon Hill. The developer has described the broader 160-acre Beacon Hill plan as eventually including single-family homes, cottages, condominiums and townhomes, according to the Spokane Journal of Business. For now, the first townhomes on the hill are rentals.
Above the urban halves, a different price tier
North of the two urban sub-areas, prices move up a tier, and supply still differs by area. September 2026 figures from Spokane REALTORS:
| Sub-area | Median | Active ÷ closed |
|---|---|---|
| Five Mile, A331 | $517,400 | 172 ÷ 54 ≈ 3.2 months |
| Mead vicinity, A341 | $450,000 | 33 ÷ 10 ≈ 3.3 months |
| "Y" area, A342 | $581,000 | 52 ÷ 16 ≈ 3.3 months |
Five Mile reverses the northeast's pattern. Its six new-home sales in September averaged $423,625, below the area's $542,623 average sale price. There, new construction came in under existing homes. Near Mead, Greenstone's Mead Works project south and east of Farwell Road and the Newport Highway shows home plans priced from $434,000 to $542,000.
Across all of "North Spokane," then, new construction sits above the area median in the northeast urban area, below it in Five Mile, and is almost absent in the northwest.
What this means for a buyer comparing the two halves
- Northwest urban: With almost no new homes coming in, your choices are whatever homeowners list that month. In September 2026 that stock turned over in about 2.6 months.
- Northeast urban: Here an area-wide median near $300,000 sits alongside new homes that averaged about $374,000 in September 2026. With roughly 3.8 months of supply, you have more listings to choose from and more room to compare.
- Both: The median gap between the halves stayed at about $30,000 to $46,000 all summer, so price alone will not tell you which market you are shopping in. The supply numbers will.
FAQ
Does "North Spokane" on a listing tell me which market a home is in? Not on its own. The MLS splits the north side into separate sub-areas, including NW urban, NE urban, Five Mile, Mead and the "Y" area. In September 2026 their medians ranged from $299,995 to $581,000.
Are the new Beacon Hill townhomes for sale? The Vistas townhomes are marketed for rent, with pre-leasing for fall and winter 2026.
Where can I check the newest monthly numbers? Spokane REALTORS posts each month's sub-area table in its Market Activity reports. Comparing a new month against the June to September 2026 pattern above shows whether the gap between the two halves is holding.
If you are deciding between the two sides of North Spokane and want to see how a specific home's price compares with that sub-area's actual supply, The Collection can go through the latest Spokane REALTORS figures with you, block by block. Request a complimentary consultation & home valuation.
