Current Treasure Valley Real Estate

[IdahoBroker]

Originally Posted by forzalugano

"... looks like some might be moving for political reasons more than price...

Politics definitely is driving a number of conservatives from California, Oregon and Washington to Idaho. I call it the Red Tide. I have had some Liberal clients move from Idaho to Portland and Seattle since they thought they would be more welcomed there.

Interest rates have come down quite a bit so I anticipate the real estate market to pick up a bit more in 2024.

[AnythingOutdoors]

Originally Posted by forzalugano

There are inland areas in CA now cheaper than Idaho, looks like some might be moving for political reasons more than price, but who knows. Price, wise it does not seem to be logical anymore.

It's almost never as simple as just price. People are complicated, and most move for a mix of reasons. Price, politics, jobs, schools, scenery, climate, etc.

That said, the median home price in CA is still around $860k vs. $440k in ID. So, in general, a house in Idaho is about half the price.

This doesn't mean you can't find less expensive homes in CA. But we have to make apples-to-apples comparisons. Yes, I can find $250k homes in tiny little towns in the middle of nowhere CA, but that's not a great quality of life.

We've lived in various parts of CA and now we live in Boise's North End, which offers an exceptional quality of life for the price. Safe, clean, filled with mature trees and wonderful neighborhood parks. We are completely comfortable with our kids roaming the neighborhood and going to the parks on their own. Tons of wonderful families around, which means our kids' friends all live within a short walk. The kids walk themselves to/from school. The schools are great, way better than our experience in CA, with well maintained/updated facilities and wonderful teachers. We walk to restaurants, bars, and shopping. There are multiple Ridge to Rivers trailheads within 1 mile of our house, which means I don't need to drive anywhere to mountain bike, simply ride through the neighborhood and then hit the trails. We can walk to downtown and all it has to offer, though we usually bike, which takes about 10 minutes. Downtown is clean and safe, with tons to see and do. Winters are mild, typically with little snow here in the valley, yet just 30 minutes to the Bogus Basin ski resort up the mountain. During the hot summer months we bike to Esther Simplot Park to swim in the pond and/or ride the river waves in the whitewater park. Or we take the shuttle to Barber Park and rent rafts and float the river. I pretty regularly ride my bike to the river to fly fish and do fairly well most days. If we want to get out of the city we drive 90 minutes into the mountains and fish the rivers/streams and swim in the swimming holes or hit a hot spring. Some of the best, most beautiful backpacking I've done in my life is within a few hours of my house. Our house is 3200 sq ft with 6 beds and a detached garage and a nice yard with alleyway (I don't know why, but I love alleyways).

What would something comparable cost in CA? I should start by saying nowhere in CA offers quite the same mix of attributes. And we looked all over CA, along with a number of longer road trips around the West.

Without going into too many details on this already-too-long post, we concluded it would cost 2-3x more to get something in CA with even remotely similar mix of factors.

Like all places, Boise is unique in its own way, but it's not a complete outlier. A lot of the Intermountain West cities also have a great quality of life for the price. Places like Salt Lake City, Spokane/CdA, the Colorado Front Range, northern New Mexico.

These areas have been underpriced for a long time, which is why people from higher cost areas are moving in. I don't expect this to change until the Intermountain West gets a lot more expensive and/or VHCOL coastal areas build a lot more housing to bring their prices down. That, and reverse the damage from the defund the police madness.

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by IdahoBroker

Politics definitely is driving a number of conservatives from California, Oregon and Washington to Idaho. I call it the Red Tide. I have had some Liberal clients move from Idaho to Portland and Seattle since they thought they would be more welcomed there.

This makes me happy.