BOISE, Idaho — Apartments, condos, townhomes, and all sorts of multi-family buildings are popping up all over the area, but will people keep building them?
Construction Coverage analyzed census data and found an increasing share of the housing units being built, or set to be built, are in multi-family buildings. Right now, a little more than 16% of the existing housing units in Idaho are in multi-family buildings. The amount of new housing units expected in multi-family buildings is double that, more than 32%. That means almost 6,000 new apartments, condos, or townhomes are going in to Idaho multi-family buildings.
"They're going up everywhere," said Dan Richter, the Immediate Past President of the Idaho Home Builders Association and a builder himself.
He said, the increase in multi-family building is driven by affordability. As you might expect, people can more easily pay rent on an apartment or buy a condo than they can afford a single-family home.
"That's an affordable alternative right now, but hopefully things get back into alignment, and folks starting off in life can buy a starter home and work their way up,” said Richter. “I'm hoping that's what we're coming back to, and we're seeing positive things happening here in the last couple months."
While starter homes are still few and far between, as we reported last week, the single-family housing market is heating up. And Richter believes that's a sign that apartment and condo building will soon slow down, as people look for homes closer to wide-open spaces.
"I believe it's going to taper off because I don't think the population of Idaho, or those coming to Idaho, are coming here to live in an apartment or a duplex or a townhouse. They're coming here to have the kind of lifestyle we've all enjoyed."
That being said, the great Idaho outdoors is accessible from different types of neighborhoods all around the Valley, apartments, condos, or single-family homes. But it's more common with a single-family home and you get some land of your own.