BOISE, Idaho — Ada County’s home prices are dropping, Canyon County’s home prices are not. But, an expert says the overall trends of rising prices tell the real story about the future of housing and the economy in our area.
KTVB previously reported the median price for a home in Ada County dropped year-over-year for the first time since October of 2014. So, did the same thing happen in Canyon County? Absolutely not.
According to the Intermountain MLS, the median home price was $525,000 in Ada County last month. That's down 2.5% percent compared to November of last year. In Canyon County, the median home price was up by 1.24%. While the average home in Ada County is still about $110,000 more expensive than the average home in Canyon County, they're trending in opposite directions.
Tracy Kasper, a long-time realtor from Canyon County and the National Association of Realtors President-Elect, said people probably shouldn't get too excited about any of these numbers.
This is because Kasper predicts the overall median price for both counties will average about plus-9-percent compared to last year. That's still too high, but it is getting closer to a healthy growing market.
What if the drop continues? The real estate brokerage Redfin predicted that markets like the Treasure Valley would see some of the country's biggest drops, or crashes, in housing.
“Crash” can be a scary word for some.
Kasper says the term "crash" for the Boise market isn't accurate because our economy is growing along with the housing.
“We know that companies are willing to come here. We know Idaho is still affordable with any of our natural resources. We do have a workforce issue. So that's just where people are going to follow those jobs. That's why we will still, again, we have a shortage of inventory, when we have people following those jobs and coming in, that's going to create and keep a steady market for us. I do believe that Boise is that anomaly," Kasper said.
"We have too much else going on outside of the real estate industry that influences it. Those jobs are a big deal. You have to give big kudos to our state officials, even our city and local officials. They've done a really great job of putting some really good pieces in place. We're a great 20-year overnight success, because of those places that we've made those adjustments to attract that business. That's the biggest difference between now and then. So, is there (going to be) a crash? Absolutely not."
Kasper echoed what we've heard from others -- that this is all part of the normalizing of the housing market, not a boom or a bust.
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