I think we can finally ditch the "Boise is affordable" slogan (low income, sale)
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Excluding California, these charts show Boise (5.5x) having the 5th highest housing price to income ratio behind only Honolulu (6.4x), NYC (6.3x), Miami (6.1x) and Seattle (5.9x). The U.S. average is 4.1x. I don't know what the parameters are for population size.
Data is pulled from the Housing Opportunity Index provided by the National Association of Home Builders.
"Excluding California, these charts show Boise (5.5x) having the 5th highest housing price to income ratio behind only Honolulu (6.4x), NYC (6.3x), Miami (6.1x) and Seattle (5.9x)."
Honolulu has tourism, NYC has Wall Street, Miami has drug money, Seattle has Amazon and Microsoft, Boise has... ???
I'm not saying there are excuses for the absurd prices in those other cities, but Boise is searching really hard for a reason to sustain these prices. This real estate bust is going to be epic.
2020 U-Haul inbound migration, Idaho ranks #30 out of 50 states (!!!).
"Excluding California, these charts show Boise (5.5x) having the 5th highest housing price to income ratio behind only Honolulu (6.4x), NYC (6.3x), Miami (6.1x) and Seattle (5.9x)."
Honolulu has tourism, NYC has Wall Street, Miami has drug money, Seattle has Amazon and Microsoft, Boise has... ???
I'm not saying there are excuses for the absurd prices in those other cities, but Boise is searching really hard for a reason to sustain these prices. This real estate bust is going to be epic.
2020 U-Haul inbound migration, Idaho ranks #30 out of 50 states (!!!).
Remember a lot of people are retiring there. They have low income from work, but good pensions and large savings, especially if they sold a house in CA. So the ratios will not necessarily reflect reality. Just look at a lot of the threads here.
Remember a lot of people are retiring there. They have low income from work, but good pensions and large savings, especially if they sold a house in CA. So the ratios will not necessarily reflect reality. Just look at a lot of the threads here.
There are retirees moving here, but there are also a lot if not more millennials moving to and settling in Boise.
Boise has a growing tech industry and is more than just Micron or HP. There are dozens of smaller tech companies growing and hiring, both local and those who moved or expanded into Boise from the west coast. Paying attention to the local news will show that there has been an increase in better paying professional jobs in the area with announcements of expansions and relocations. One example of many is that Amazon is adding a couple of thousand new jobs to the area. Boise has national and world headquarters for several large companies, so the dynamics here are diverse and not just centered around one or two large corporations.
This past year, Boise was one of the top cities for construction job growth which also includes commercial in addition to residential. There is an impressive amount of new office/commercial construction taking place in Boise and the metro area with no sign of slowing down anytime in the near future. Downtown is changing quickly with the construction of several new apartment buildings which will add hundreds of new units and people. New office/condo towers are currently proposed for downtown.
The other day, Idaho was listed as the top move to state for 2020 by United Van Lines. Boise had one of the top housing markets in 2020 and is projected to in 2021. The area (as are many other areas in the nation) is attracting many remote workers who are adding to the population growth.
At the end of the day, the quality of life is what will keep Boise growing into the future.
Sure, maybe there are a few retirees moving to Idaho, but it will never be like Florida or Arizona. It is too cold, and old people tend to like climates that are warm or hot year round. Even if Idaho were a mecca for retirees, that doesn't justify a high cost for housing. Oldsters are on fixed incomes usually, and not all can afford or want big McMansions. We need to accept the fact that we are experiencing a housing price bubble, and not be looking for excuses. A strong housing market by definition is one where houses are affordable for the average worker in the area, where you don't have to sell a kidney to be able to afford something. Don't buy the real estate industry's lies that we have to pay an arm and a leg for a house. Wait for prices to collapse first. This bubble is driven by a combination of loose lending, appraisal fraud, and lack of timely information on actual sale prices.
P.S.: The U-Haul report is the one to look at. It draws from the much larger DIY one way moving pool than the United Van Lines report, which is for a paid moving service.
"Excluding California, these charts show Boise (5.5x) having the 5th highest housing price to income ratio behind only Honolulu (6.4x), NYC (6.3x), Miami (6.1x) and Seattle (5.9x)."
Honolulu has tourism, NYC has Wall Street, Miami has drug money, Seattle has Amazon and Microsoft, Boise has... ???
I'm not saying there are excuses for the absurd prices in those other cities, but Boise is searching really hard for a reason to sustain these prices. This real estate bust is going to be epic.
2020 U-Haul inbound migration, Idaho ranks #30 out of 50 states (!!!).
Sure, maybe there are a few retirees moving to Idaho, but it will never be like Florida or Arizona. It is too cold, and old people tend to like climates that are warm or hot year round. Even if Idaho were a mecca for retirees, that doesn't justify a high cost for housing. Oldsters are on fixed incomes usually, and not all can afford or want big McMansions. We need to accept the fact that we are experiencing a housing price bubble, and not be looking for excuses. A strong housing market by definition is one where houses are affordable for the average worker in the area, where you don't have to sell a kidney to be able to afford something. Don't buy the real estate industry's lies that we have to pay an arm and a leg for a house. Wait for prices to collapse first. This bubble is driven by a combination of loose lending, appraisal fraud, and lack of timely information on actual sale prices.
P.S.: The U-Haul report is the one to look at. It draws from the much larger DIY one way moving pool than the United Van Lines report, which is for a paid moving service.
The folks who use uhaul have no money. That is why they use uhaul. The Van lines report is much more accurate for cash flow into the area. The landscape has changed much since the pandemic. The Treasure valley will just go up until it doesn't.
It's true the working wage here for an unskilled worker is beans. Skilled labor is improving much.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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With more people working from home now, Boise is still very affordable, indeed "cheap" when they move from places like the Bay Area and Seattle, keeping the same pay.
The median home price in Boise is still just $404,000
San Francisco $1.36 million
San Jose $1.1 Million
Seattle $804,504
My city, Sammamish WA $1.03 Million (We're staying here, thanks)
I dunno, the U-Haul stats are telling. Idaho went from #2 in 2017, to #5 in 2018, #11 in 2019, and plunged to #30 last year. If it went the opposite way, all the realtors on here would be squawking, "Look at this, everyone in the USA is moving to Idaho. Red hot-cakes!!!!!" Are displaced cubicle workers flocking to Idaho by the thousands to overpay for housing? Doubtful.
The folks who use uhaul have no money. That is why they use uhaul. The Van lines report is much more accurate for cash flow into the area. The landscape has changed much since the pandemic. The Treasure valley will just go up until it doesn't.
It's true the working wage here for an unskilled worker is beans. Skilled labor is improving much.
That's true.
Retirees have sales, downsize, and rent U-Hauls.
Young folks who have young families use van lines and haul all their stuff with them.
The Treasure Valley influx may slow down, but if it does, it will mean the influx has grown in the Magic Valley, or the Snake River Valley, or in the panhandle.
Idaho was the Great Unknown for almost my entire life, but no longer. Nowadays, people who have never been here know something about my Old Mother. It might not be much, but it's more than famous potatoes, for sure.
And if our weather doesn't attract retirees, that's a good thing. That means the ones who stick aren't daunted by our winters.
It also means the young folks who use vans to move aren't daunted either. They want to come here because they see a brighter future from themselves here.
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