Some might think moving to a smaller county may help with the homebuying process, but pricing in these areas is heating up.
BOISE, Idaho — The housing crisis is happening all over, not just in the cities.
Normally (if there is a “normal” for housing trends anymore), this is the time when the homebuying season would have really started to heat up. But mortgage rates are sticking in the high 6’s. That’s not historically high, but it’s higher than a few years ago, and higher than a lot of home buyers want. So, it’s keeping the real estate season from really catching fire.
While not catching fire, the market is warming up locally. According to the Intermountain MLS, the number of homes sold in Ada County in May, was more than 3% higher than it was last year. The median price is more than 3% higher too, at almost $580K.
In Canyon County, they’re selling even more homes, almost 6% more than they did last year. The price is going up too, more than 3% higher, sitting at $433K.
If you’re like, “I can’t afford that. Luckily, things are cheaper in rural areas.” Well, they used to be.
According to an analysis by Neighbors Bank, there’s a rural housing crunch now. Let’s look at Idaho’s rural counties, those with a population under 20,000. In those counties, the median income for a renter (someone who may be looking to buy) is a little more than $40,000. But the median home price is still $322K. Someone making $40,000 cannot buy a house for that much. And it’s only getting worse, as 14 of Idaho’s 25 rural counties have warm or hotter housing markets. The result, 22% of homeowners and 34% of renters are cost-burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income goes to housing.
Here’s how that looks in a couple of the rural counties around here, according to the Intermountain MLS. Boise County is the Idaho City area. It’s not a lot of homes sold last month, just 16, but that’s 14% more than last year. Also, forget about more affordable homes in rural areas; the median price is up more than 22% to $571K. What about right across the state line? In Malheur County, home sales are down more than 9%, but the median price is still climbing. It’s up 5% to $294K.
That means people everywhere, from cities to rural towns, are being priced out of homeownership.