REALTOR.COM: BOISE A HOT HOUSING MARKET IN 2019
The City of Trees just added another distinction to its growing résumé. Idaho’s capital city is among the top 10 “surprising housing markets poised to rule in 2019,” according to realtor.com.
The roster was created after the real estate listings website analyzed housing markets across the U.S. that are hotbeds for job growth and new construction— places where hordes of new residents are moving and which are, for the most part, relatively affordable.
Boise landed No. 8 on the list.
According to realtor.com, “Much of the boom in Boise’s housing market is due to all of the out-of-staters swooping in. As in many of the other markets on this list, folks from high-cost states such as California are shuffling across state lines to save their hard-earned cash.” The median price of a home in the Golden State is $536,000, while it’s just $326,000 in Idaho, according realtor.com data.
The article said newbies are attracted to Boise’s scenic mountain views plus perks like rafting on the Boise River and attending the Idaho Shakespeare Festival each summer. “We finally are big enough that we have the culture and the amenities of most big cities, yet we don’t have the prices,” says Robert Inman, director of operations for Boise’s Best Real Estate Team, a Keller Williams affiliate. One of the drawbacks is that this influx of buyers into the Boise metro has driven up home prices 13.4 percent since last year. “It’s gotten harder for locals to buy homes,” Inman says.
According to realtor.com, the hottest market overall is Lakeland, Florida, just east of Tampa. Major cities like Miami, Boston and Phoenix also landed on the list. “The diversity of these top markets suggests that real estate can thrive anywhere there is a strong local economy,” said Danielle Hale, a realtor.com economist. “While attracting younger individuals and families who are likely to be first-time buyers can be important, real estate can also thrive in sunny retirement communities.”
While the 10 top markets will continue to be frothy, realtor.com has another perspective for the country as a whole. It’s predicting the number of overall home sales to decrease by 2 percent, after years of steady climbs. Meanwhile, prices, which have been steadily zooming up over the past few years, will rise only by a paltry 2.2 percent — thanks to already meteoric prices in many parts of the country, along with the rising mortgage interest rates and tax changes pricing more buyers out of the market.
Realtor.com’s hottest housing markets in 2019
- Lakeland, Fla.
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- El Paso, Tex.
- Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Phoenix, Ariz.
- Bridgeport, Conn.
- Las Vegas, Nev.
- Boise, Idaho
- Miami, Fla.
- Boston, Mass.
January 28, 2019 by Steve Sinovic – https://idahobusinessreview.com/2019/01/28/website-boise-a-hot-housing-market-in-2019/