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Copyright 2000 The Idaho Statesman
The Idaho Statesman
July 21, 2000, Friday

HEADLINE: Area home prices to rise 3.5 percent Boise, Caldwell get relief from recent increases

Boise-Caldwell area home buyers can expect to typically pay 3.5 percent more for homes by year's end than last December - well below double-digit increases of some recent years.

The median price for new and existing homes in the urbanized sections of Ada and Canyon counties is projected at $ 128,200 next December.

The projection was made this week by The Meyers Group, an Irvine, Calif.- based provider of real estate information.

If that seems high, compare it to a projected median price of $ 422,500 for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area.

Median prices are widely used to gauge housing costs. Half the homes sold are more expensive than the median price and half are cheaper.

Sky-high home prices in the San Francisco Bay area and Silicon Valley are fueled by the scarcity of land, said Alex LaBeau, public affairs coordinator of the Idaho Association of Realtors.

Wealthy high-tech executives bid up the price of existing modest homes, remove the old houses and build huge homes, he said.

"We have done well in Ada and Canyon counties in maintaining a considerable inventory of new and existing homes to avoid the significant price spikes we see in other regions," LaBeau said.

Despite Boise's rapid growth in new housing - 10th highest in the nation - real estate price inflation was relatively low.

The Boise area ranks 42nd among the nation's top 75 markets in the projected increase in median housing prices this year, according to The Meyers Group.

The company's analysis predicted that the volume of permits issued to build new homes in the Boise-Caldwell area likely will decline by 10 percent during the year 2000 as demand for homes is reduced by higher mortgage rates.

Sale price increases reached the double digits in some years during the 1990s, hitting a 13.5 percent "price explosion" last year, the company's analysis noted. "Sellers will not see those kinds of gains this year as higher mortgage rates dampen demand and eat away the ability of buyers to handle ever-bigger sticker prices."

The Bay Area-Silicon Valley topped The Meyers Group's rankings of projected price inflation among 75 housing markets in the United States, with a forecast increase during this year of 15.7 percent.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton's median price was projected at $ 143,700, a 4 percent increase and Salt Lake City-Ogden at $ 141,200, a 2.4 percent increase.

Contact Charles at 377-6334 or cetlinger@boise.gannett.com

Land prices

Market Median price apprecia- tion %

1. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose $ 422,500 15.7
2. San Diego $ 260,000 12.3
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach $ 222,000 8.1
4. Orange County, Calif. $ 304,000 8.0
5. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. $ 138,400 7.5
6. Houston-Galveston-Brazoria $ 112,700 7.0
7. Northern and Central New Jersey $ 200,000 6.5
8. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. $ 100,500 6.5
9. Denver-Boulder-Greeley $ 182,000 6.2
10. Myrtle Beach, S.C. $ 146,700 6.0

Also

13. Portland-Salem $ 174,000 5.5
35. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton $ 143,700 4.0
40. Provo-Orem, Utah $ 145,500 3.6
42. Boise City $ 128.200 3.5
53. Reno $ 155,000 2.9
57. Salt Lake City-Ogden $ 141,200 2.4

Source: The Meyers Group

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