Boise Idaho: Buyer or Seller’s Market?

• “The world is supposed to end today, so it must be a buyers market.  After all, who would want to own property on a planet that won’t exist tomorrow?”
• “My brother’s girlfriends mom’s baby daddy knows a guy who sold a home one time and lost a bunch of money. I never want to buy a home cuz’ that will happen to me to.”
• “I’m waiting for rates to go down a little more before I buy…I read an article on msn.com”
• “The banks are holding on to another 900,000 homes that have been foreclosed and not on the market yet…We still have lots of room to drop so I’m going to wait for the bottom.”

The above? – Everyone has an opinion when it comes to real estate…the real question is, who are you listening to?

Buying Boise real estate

I think we can all agree that for the past 2-3 years, Boise Idaho has been a strong buyers market. With prices as aggressive as they have been and interest rates as low as they have been, buying Boise real estate has been a no brainer. Especially if you are renting a home or apartment in Boise as rental rates are often exceeding the price of buying your own home. Renting and want to know if you can qualify? Contact me today and I’ll help you find out.

But what about selling Boise real estate?

Real estate investors and guru’s alike look for specific signs and market trends that might lead to a shift, which could prove profitable in one way or another. Recent signs of change or a shift in the market from a buyers market to a seller’s market include multiple offers on many listings, above full price offers, less than 6 months worth of inventory (currently 4.7 months) and investors are buying again. It’s obviously still a great market to be a buyer in as the prices are at all time lows, but the indicators above and below could lead to the shift that many have waited for, the true pricing bottom for Boise.

Recent examples:

Last week, there was a property listed in Meridian, ID near Locust Grove and Fairview for $91,900. This property had been on the market for less than 3 days when I wrote an offer for my clients on the property. We wrote the offer at $95,000 asking for $3,800 in closing costs, so $700 under the full price. We were notified shortly afterwards that this property had multiple offers on it so we were asked to submit our highest and best offer. After discussing options with my clients, we decided to come in at $105,000 asking for $3,800 in closing costs or a net for the seller of $101,200 which is $9,300 above full price. I know what you are thinking, “$9,300 above full price in this buyers market? These poor buyers need to find a new real estate agent that knows what he’s doing!”…I might have believed that statement myself if it were 6 months ago. The scariest part about it is that even offering $9,300 net above full price on the property in Meridian, ID we did NOT get the house. Someone else offered higher on the property.

Two weeks ago, I wrote 2 other properties and got in a similar “highest and best” scenario. Both buyers came in about $5,000 above full price on homes in the $100,000 price range and neither buyer got the property.

The two examples above are very strong indicators of a shift that could be occurring in our Boise real estate market. The prices are so low that people are fighting over them to get them. That fighting is leading to the homes being sold above asking price. If this trend continues long enough, banks should start pricing their homes accordingly (higher).

Boise Idaho: Factors contributing to a buyer’s market?

1. Sales prices on homes are extremely aggressive.
2. Interest rates for mortgages are also extremely aggressive.
3. Boise rental prices and payments are higher than Boise mortgage payments in many scenarios.

• Note that these same three factors have been the case for the last 2 years.

Boise Idaho: Factors contributing to a seller’s market?

1. Investors are aggressively purchasing homes.
2. Inventory has consistently gone down over the last 3 months.
3. Average days on market is 87 for 2011.

• Note that these three factors have been prevalent for only the last 3-6 months.

The Bottom Line?

I am not saying that we are going to see real estate pricing increase dramatically like it was in 2004 through 2006. What I am saying is that the best evidence of a bottom is buyers fighting over the opportunity to buy a home in Boise. That home that we lost bidding $9,300 over full price (10% over full price!) had 12 offers on it in 6 days!!! Don’t get me wrong, if you are a seller thinking of selling your home in Boise in today’s market, you are going to sell it for significantly less than you would have if it were 2006. But if you are a seller looking to sell a home in today’s market that is priced right, you wont have to wait 6 months to a year to do so like you might have in 2009.

I will continue to keep a close eye on the Boise real estate market and I suggest you do the same, or just check out www.chasecraig.com every now and again. This may not be the bottom in Boise, but there is strong evidence supporting the case that we are living in the real estate bottom in Boise Idaho today.

If you are thinking of selling your home in this market or even if you just want to know what your home might be worth, contact me today for a free market analysis. It’s no trouble on my end, I actually enjoy doing them! If you would prefer to see what is on the market, you can search Boise area properties here.

Best of luck to you!

Chase Craig

Boise Real Estate Agent