Ada County Homes Are Selling in Record Time
Posted by Lisa Kohl on Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 at 6:28pm
The median cost for a single-family home in Ada County dropped nearly $10,000 to $297,073 last month. Prices in Canyon County finished April at $208,950, down $3,000 from the month prior.
After reaching $300,000 for the first time in March, Boise prices dipped to $275,000 in April, albeit in line with the record we set this February.
While a decline in home prices in Spring, particularly April, is unusual it's likely to be short-lived.
Throughout the Treasure Valley, properties are selling in a mere 8 days. The fewest days on market since electronic records have been kept (2004).
Over the previous 12 months, home values are up 17.42 percent in Ada County and 16.14 percent in Canyon County. House prices in Boise have risen 15.11 percent.
The spike in mortgage rates and pent-up demand from buyers pushed sales into March that we would have otherwise seen in April and May.
The warm winter we saw this year didn’t hurt. Although, the two feet of snow in 2017 didn’t hurt either.
Currently, there is a 1.32 months supply of homes for sale in Ada County and a 1.20 month supply in Canyon County.
Total home sales are up 9 percent in 2018 versus the previous year, even though the number of houses for sale is down 36 percent. In order to move to a balanced market, those numbers would need to reverse.
New Construction
Year to date, new construction homes made up 29 percent of all sales with a median price of $353,817 vs $275,000 for resale homes. At this same time last year, new houses were 27 percent of the total. That number will continue to increase.
Over-pricing pitfalls
As values continue to rise, homebuyers are sensitive to overpaying.
In a real estate market where most properties are selling within a few days, hundreds have been on the market for months. In fact, one in four houses is taking longer than 30 days to sell. Due to poor marketing, overpricing, or both.
In this market, when a house has been listed for more than a couple of weeks, many buyers (even agents) assume there must be something wrong with it.
Buyers have access to the same information sellers do, nearby homes for sale, what’s pending, and all the neighborhood comparable sales.
For both buyer and seller, the details of the offer matter.
It’s a common misconception that the highest offer is always the winning offer. For the homebuyers we represent, about one in three offers accepted by sellers are not the highest dollar amount.
While bidding wars tend to make news, we are actually seeing them less. Multiple offers are common particularly at lower price points, but fewer multiple offer situations are turning in to bidding wars.
Keep in mind it doesn’t matter how high the purchase offer is if it isn’t going to close.
It is essential to put your best foot forward from the beginning. Sellers don’t have any obligation to take the first offer, the highest (priced) offer or even respond to every offer.
Many sellers won’t counter more than two offers. In Ada County, where multiple offers are the norm on anything under $250,000, the seller may have already negotiated and agreed to accept an offer from another buyer before a rejected offer even receives a response.
It isn't always about offering the most.
Errors in the purchase and sale agreement are the quickest way to get an offer rejected. The purchase and sale agreement is a legal document. Your offer is worthless if it's not filled out correctly.
There are 44 items on the Idaho purchase and sale agreement and they all matter:
- The amount of the earnest money.
- Which contingencies are being used?
- How many contingencies are being included?
- What timelines are being proposed?
- How are appraisals, inspections, and financing going to be handled?
Those are just the basics.
The best offer is the offer most likely to close with the fewest potential pitfalls.
April Boise Real Estate Market
The average price per square foot for Boise is $162, an increase of 13.29 percent compared to the same time last year. Boise housing market summary:
- Median list price - $274,900 (up 16.98%)
- Median sold price - $275,000 (up 17.02%)
- Total home sales - 438 (down from 454)
- Median days on market - 5 days (down 1 day)
- Available homes for sale - 0.87 months supply (down 29%)
- 30-year mortgage rates - 4.47% (up from 4.05%)
Idaho Real Estate Markets in April
Median sales price:
- Ada County - $297,073
- Eagle - $390,000
- Garden City - $447,000
- Kuna - $230,000
- Meridian - $306,375
- Star - $335,500
- Canyon County - $208,900
- Caldwell - $189,500
- Middleton - $249,950
- Nampa - $209,900
Lisa Kohl
Treasure Valley Realtor Lisa Kohl loves what she does. It shows in her attitude, in her work, and in the many reviews written by her past clients. Lisa carefully studies the local housing market to give her clients the edge when buying or selling a home in Idaho. We Know Boise is a full-service real estate team that combines our LOCAL expertise with traditional know-how to create exceptional results for each of our clients.
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NOTE: Information in this market report was obtained from the Intermountain MLS (IMLS) on May 9th, 2018. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All information refers to single-family homes. Current inventory is calculated on a twelve-month rolling average. We believe existing homes for sale are the best way to gauge current Boise home prices and Boise housing market conditions. New construction home prices are much more volatile and tend to exaggerate the numbers, particularly on a month to month basis.
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