BOISE, Idaho — A recent report from LendingTree paints a dire picture of the housing crisis currently affecting the Boise metro area.
According to that report, Boise ranks #2 when it comes to having the worst housing crisis outlook in the nation. Our Pacific Northwest neighbor, Portland, Oregon, claimed the top spot.
The findings are based on an analysis of vacancy rates, housing unit approvals, home value-to-income ratios, as well as the change in value-to-income ratios across the 100 largest metros in the USA.
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Out of those 100 cities, Boise has the second-lowest vacancy rate at 4.56%. Furthermore, Idaho’s capital features a growing home value-to-income ratio, which indicates a growing affordability gap.
“The vacancy rates in Portland and Boise are less than half of those in many other big metros,” said Matt Schulz, a LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst. “When that happens, prices rise, making things even more expensive. Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to change in many of the most troubled metros because the data shows that insufficient building is being done. That’s not the case in Boise, where new permits are among the highest in the nation, but it’s the case in Portland, Bridgeport, and other metros with similar rankings. That doesn’t bode well for the near future.”
Conversely, metros with the best housing crisis outlook are cities in the southeastern USA. They include McAllen, TX, Wilmington, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Baton Rouge, LA, and Augusta, GA.
You can find the entire LendingTree report here.