HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
BOISE HOUSING MARKET BURSTING AT THE SEAMS
“We have a very strong economic base. At this point in time we’re well situated and experiencing a lot of growth and have a lot of diversification. We’re not dependent on one industry,” Holley noted. Still, like many other markets around the country, Boise is suffering from sticker shock in its housing market brought on by those rising population numbers combined with a lack of available inventory. “We’re actually seeing retirees come here because their kids have moved here. Especially people from California
and Seattle because we’re more affordable,” said Breanna Vanstrom, CEO of the Boise Regional REALTORS (BRR). “We’re also seeing people moving back…boomerang buyers. We have a lot of qualified buyers, just a lack of inventory.” More Than Just Potatoes The long-term foundation of the Boise economy has been its agribusiness, particularly its potato crop. In 1929, J.R. Simplot started a one-man farming operation that he turned into an agribusiness empire. Among his accomplishments, Simplot created the first commercially viable frozen french
fries in the 1940s. The company to this day is still steeped in food technology.
In 1939, Joe Albertson founded Albertsons grocery stores in Boise, where the company headquarters is still located. Boise Cascade — a manufacturer of lumber and building materials — has been around since 1957. Diversification has brought technology to the fold, playing a much larger part in the metro area’s economic picture. Hewlett-Packard opened a facility in Boise in 1973, and in 1978 Micron Technology was founded, manufacturing computer memory and storage technologies. “We have two significant tech stories. They are the two bookends of this valley. One is HP, that came here early on, and Micron that has its roots here,” said Clark Krause, executive director of
“We have two significant tech stories. They are the two bookends of this valley. One is HP, that came here early on, and Micron that has its roots here.”
CLARK KRAUSE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BOISE VALLEY ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
TOP 10 HOUSING MARKETS ABOVE PRE-PECESSION PRICE PEAK
Q1 2018 MEDIAN HOME PRICE
PRE-RECESSION PEAK PRICE
PCT CHANGE FROM PRE-RECESSION PEAK
$1,400,000
68.7% 67.2%
61.6% 59.7%
$1,200,000
57.2%
46.8% 45.9% 45.4%
$1,000,000
41.5% 38.5%
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
-0.6%
$200,000
$0
HOUSTON, TX
DALLAS- FORT WORTH, TX
DENVER, CO
SAN JOSE, CA
SAN ANTONIO, TX
PROVO, UT
NASHVILLE, TN
AUSTIN, TX
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
BOISE, ID
U.S.
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JULY 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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