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Despite seasonal slow down this winter, the median sales price for the Boise housing market hit a new record high this past month at $549,900.  This 21.6% increase from February 2021 is largely due to insufficient supply to meet Boise’s growing housing demand.  In addition to rising prices, two other factors indicate another competitive buying season may be in store for us this spring:  the number of days a home is on the market before it goes under contract and the percent of original list price received.  Last month, the average Days on Market (DOM) was 23 days.  While this number is 14 days more than February of 2021, it is 10 days less than last month and still well below historical averages.  As stated by Boise Regional REALTORS®, “Buyers may have a bit more time to shop than they did last year, but they will still likely need to make quick decisions once they find a home they’d like to purchase.” 

The percent of original list price received for existing homes in February was 99.6%.  This is down from the 105.5% of list price received last year, but it is still significant.  BRR explains: “Buyers may be unable or unwilling to spend over list prices to win a listing, as was common a year ago, or we’re seeing sellers pricing homes more in line with the market comparables.  Overall, we are seeing fewer bidding wars than last year, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still happening in some instances. It just depends on the particular property, the list price, and what buyers are willing to pay.”

If you have questions about the market and how it may affect your individual buying, selling, or investment decisions, please give us a call.  We would love to meet to help you think through your options!

For a quick snapshot of the Boise housing market for February 2022, see Boise Regional REALTORS® housing market summary for Ada County below:

See more monthly Boise housing market updates HERE!

These past several months have been heavy for our family, particularly for Luke.  For those of you who know him, you know God wired him to be able to carry a lot.  He’s invested in his work and in his co-workers; he faithfully seeks to lead our church body well; he fosters relationships with friends and family, and he makes time to care for and be present with me and the kids.  But, even with his wiring, he’s human--incapable of doing these things perfectly, unable to bear the weight fully, and prone to feeling he is failing in every area.  He has felt the acuteness of his humanness often in this season.  While that can be discouraging, we have also benefited from witnessing God’s incredible kindness in giving His strength when Luke was weak, His calming peace when Luke was stressed, and His abundant joy when Luke was discouraged.  Indeed, God’s words from 2 Corinthians 12:9 have proven true over and over these past several months, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

So, just as it says in the second part of this passage, “We will boast all the more gladly of our weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us.”  Amid an emotionally draining and time-consuming leadership conflict, sleepless nights at work, difficult conversations, dropped balls, the tragic loss of a friends’ child, the struggle to find a spare moment to study or prepare for his captain’s test, and his fight to be present with his family, God made up for every insufficiency. He gave Luke grace upon grace to allow him to pass his tests and be promoted to Captain in his job, a position he is humbled and honored to receive.  And, He heaped kindness upon kindness in timing a week away to refresh and reconnect as a family in the warmth of the sun. Indeed, He gives strength in our weakness and peace in our storms.  So, we boast all the more gladly in Him.  

Thank you, Lord, for being our strength in weakness and for showing your grace and kindness to us amidst our trials and inadequacies.  Thank you for the peace that comes in knowing we don’t need to hold it all together because YOU do!  Thus, we rest and rejoice and boast in YOU!  

By Katie Miller

For more blog posts by Katie Miller, click HERE 

In light of Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fitting to share some excerpts from what I believe is the greatest, purest, truest, and most beautiful love letter ever penned—God’s message of love to us.  The Bible is filled with God’s words of love for His people, accounts of how He demonstrates that love through His actions, and hope for how He is working that love out towards completion.  Below is just a small compilation of some verses I hope will encourage your heart and remind you of how loved and valued you are by Him.   Moreover, may these words deepen your desire to want to know and love and experience the joys of a relationship with the Author.

My Beloved,

Do you know how much I value you?  I created you in My own image (Genesis 1:27) and breathed the breath of life in you (Genesis 2:7).  Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you to be the person I wanted you to be (Jeremiah 1:5).  I formed your inward parts; I knitted you together.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Yes, wonderful are you, the work of My hands; your soul knows it well. Your frame was not hidden from Me, when you were being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth (Psalm 13:13-15). I have searched you and know you, and every moment of your life matters to Me. I care when you sit down and when you rise up.  I am acquainted with all of your ways.  Before a word is on your tongue, I know it.  I hem you in, behind and before and I lay My hand gently upon you” (Psalm 139 1-5).  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before Me. Why, I even know the number of hairs on your head at this very moment. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12:6-7).  My eyes are turned toward you, and My ears hear every cry (Psalm 34:15). Can a mother forget her nursing child or fail to show compassion on the son of her womb?  Surely some may forget, but I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15). I go before you, I am with you, and I will never leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8).  

I love you with an everlasting love, and I will draw you with My kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).  Because, I never want you to question how very much I love you, I laid down My life for you, and there is no greater love than that (John 15:13).  I left My kingdom to find you in the darkness, to rescue you from your sin, to adorn you with My immeasurable love, and to bring you into My presence forever (John 3:16-17).  Because I love you and want to be with you, I bought you with the precious price of My blood (1 Corinthians 6:20).  Out of My rich mercy and great love for you, even when you were dead in your sins, I made you alive in Me, so you might know the exceeding riches of My grace and kindness toward you (Ephesians 2:4-7).  I am in your midst, and I am mighty to save. I rejoice over you with gladness, I will quiet you by My love, and I will exult over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).  

With affection too deep for words,

The ONE who knows you completely and calls you Beloved

By Katie Miller

For more blog posts by Katie Miller, click HERE 

The Boise housing market experienced a 1.1% decrease in median sales price last month, but the 20% year over year increase remains significant.  And, while the rate of increase is slowing, the overall trajectory of sales prices in the Treasure Valley continues on an upward trend.  As stated before, these increased prices are fueled by strong demand—much of which has been brought on by opportunities for people to work remotely and finding our area an attractive place to do so.   

Though listing activity has also been on the rise in 2022, demand still far outweighs supply, and we are not yet near reaching a balanced market.  Looking at prices, buyer demand, and listing activity, Boise Regional REALTORS® asks and answer the following:  

“With low, but increasing, inventory, will we continue to see the fast market pace and multiple offer scenarios experienced in 2021? We can’t say for sure, but so far Days on Market (DOM), the metric that measures the time between when a property is listed and when it has an accepted offer, has increased and normalized for existing homes.  Days on market for existing homes reached 33 days in January 2022, 18 days longer than in January 2021 and more in line with pre-pandemic levels in early 2020. This is good news for buyers as they may have a bit more time to make decisions and may not feel the need to waive contingencies when writing offers.  Additionally, the Percent of Original List Price Received for existing homes that sold in January 2022 was 97.3%, meaning that, on average, buyers paid less than asking through a lower accepted offer and/or seller concessions. In contrast, the Percent of Original List Price Received for existing home sales in January 2021 was 103.6%, indicating that, on average, buyers were paying more than asking price for homes.”

If you are looking to possibly buy or sell this year, we would love the opportunity to meet and share more about how current market trends could affect you.  We know that buying and selling real estate can be one of the biggest life decisions and probably the biggest financial decision many people make.  Thus, we count it an incredible privilege to walk with you through those waters and to use our gifts to serve you well.

For a quick snapshot of the Boise housing market for January 2022, see Boise Regional REALTORS® housing market summary for Ada County below:

See more monthly Boise housing market updates HERE!

Many of you have asked how life is going with our sweet puppy, Millie.  You guys, WHAT WAS I THINKING when I allowed this creature to invade our peaceful and happy life?  Here are some highlights from Millie's 4 months with us:

1) She came to us with a broken leg, which meant she was in a cast for her first 10 days with us.  This made EVERYTHING more challenging, including potty training, crate training, and life in general.

2) She LOVES the snow and good luck keeping her out of it.  She may decide she's done playing in it and may ask to come in and get cleaned up.  But, you better believe the minute you're done fixing her up, she will be ready to hit the snow again... hard!  This 26 times per day.  Girl can accumulate some serious snow balls on her shaggy fur! 

3) Turns out she is going to be quite a bit larger than we were expecting.  This means she has outgrown EVERYTHING we have purchased.  This includes 3 crates, many beds, and ALL THE THINGS we have purchased.

4) Millie is such an over-achiever that she went right ahead and went into heat a week before we had her scheduled to be spayed.  This might be the funnest of all the things.  She now gets to wear diapers, which we must take off every time she goes outside and then put back on every time she comes back inside.  Have I mentioned how often she goes outside??  She is now on day 18 of this blessedness and, lucky for us, she has figured out how to take her diaper off.  Yay. 

5) Lastly, Millie graduated from Puppy Training (even though she did not do any of the tricks she was asked to do on graduation day!).  She looks so calm in her graduation picture - but it's a LIE!  She was not having it with that hat, and somehow we still managed to capture a decent picture of her.  Because this is what we do as dog owners - we take pictures of our dogs with hats on even though they don't deserve to be wearing the hat.

It's a good thing she's as cute as she is.  If it weren't for my total fear of being judged by everyone around me, I'm sure we would have given her back by now.  I'm told it gets easier.  Super curious when that will be!!  

Written by Becka Marston

See more posts by Becka Marston HERE!

December 2021 and Year-End Market Report

by Boise Regional REALTORS®

When summing up the 2021 Ada County housing market, one could easily argue that this past year brought the most fast-paced market we’ve ever seen, particularly in the first half of the year. The market conditions were incredibly competitive.

The county has faced limited housing inventory for years now, a phenomenon we’ve detailed in many of our reports. This lack of supply has been insufficient compared to the persistent demand for housing, which has driven up prices and caused a home buying frenzy earlier this year. We tracked the pace of the market by a few metrics — how quickly homes went under contract, the share of sales that sold over list price, and for how much they sold over list price.

We’ll first explore the data for each of these metrics in the existing home sale segment to illustrate just how competitive the market was in 2021.

The Days on Market (DOM) metric measures the time between when a property is listed and when it has an accepted offer. Overall, DOM for existing homes trended down, reaching a historic low of just nine days in May 2021. Since then, the DOM metric has increased and normalized, reaching an average of 30 days in December 2021 — 18 days longer than in December 2020, and more in line with pre-pandemic levels from early 2020...CONTINUE READING

A friend gave us the idea to  share a word that characterized 2021 and to come up with a word we hoped would characterize 2022.  It has been a fun question to ask friends and family and to hear the different words that defined their past year and those they are desiring to see exemplified in the next.  My word for 2021 was "presence" and for 2022 "prayer."  If you want to hear more on why I chose those words, you can watch this short little video.  I would love to know what word characterized your past year and also what one your hoping characterizes 2022, so please send me a note if  you're willing and have time!    

By Katie Miller

For more blog posts by Katie Miller, click HERE 

Although the Boise housing market is experiencing a common seasonal cooling with the close of 2021, the Months Supply Inventory (MSI) metric shows that demand for homes remains strong and consistent. As Boise Regional REALTORS® reiterates, the MSI metric is calculated by taking “the number of homes for sale divided by the average number of sales by month for the preceding 12 months. As of November 2021, Ada County was at just 0.9 months for existing homes and 1.5 months for new construction. This means, if no additional homes were listed, the supply of homes for sale would run out in less than two months. A balanced market — not favoring buyers or sellers — is typically between 4-6 months of supply.”

In addition to inventory levels, here are some other notable statistics to help you better understand our current market:  

• Last month, existing homes were on the market an average of 25 days before going under contract, 92.3% longer than the 13 days we saw a year ago.

• Inventory of existing homes was up 217.9% compared to November 2020.  

• The median sales price for existing homes in November 2021 was $510,000 (19.7% higher than the same month last year).

• The median sales prices for newly constructed homes in November 2021 was $601,301 (39.8% higher than the same month last year).  A portion of this increase is due to the increased cost of materials.  

• Newly constructed home sales were down 32.2% year to date compared to last year. This is partially due to delays in the supply chain slowing production and partially due to buyers having an increased number of existing homes on the market to choose from.

• There is a strong correlation between inventory of existing homes and pending sales for new construction.  The graph below looks at activity since January 2019 and shows how the number of pending new construction homes goes up as inventory of existing homes goes down and visa versa.  See graph below:

For more information on this graph and other market statistics, please read the full market report from Boise Regional REALTORS® HERE.  Or, if you’d like to visit with someone in person to learn more about the market, please give us a call!  We’d love to schedule a time to meet to talk through how our current Boise housing market may affect your future real estate decisions!  

With the shift in weather, we’ve seen a shift in the Boise housing market too.  Though homes are still selling for near record highs, we experienced a slight 0.2% drop in the median sales price from September to October.  It’s been refreshing to see the market cool a bit.  There are still some homes that receive multiple offers within the first few days on the market and sell for over asking price.  But, for the most part, the process of buying or selling a home seems a bit less frantic than it has been in the last several months.

Much of this shift has to do with increased inventory. Last month, there were 703 available properties for sale in the Boise market.  This was an increase in inventory of more than 300% from October 2020!  In those months when inventory was at its lowest, competition was high, influencing buyers to pay over list price to get their desired home. This led to more than half of all homes that sold in October 2020 through July 2021 to sell for over list price.  Since July 2021, as more inventory has become available and competition has eased, the number of homes selling for over list price dropped significantly to 26.15% of all home sales in October 2021.    

Although the market is becoming less and less frantic as supply moves closer and closer to present demand, every house and situation is different, and there are still many steps to navigating a successful purchase or sale.  So, please give us a call!  We know the market well and are experienced in helping buyers and sellers make wise and informed real estate decisions.  We’d love the opportunity to answer your questions, share what we know, and walk alongside you in the process!

Some wonderful buyers of mine just closed on an incredible homestead for their family in Emmett.  Two sisters and their families purchased 20 acres that was split into 4 5-acre lots.  The lots will be used between them and their kids to build their new and glorious Idaho life.  It’s just the very best.

Everything about this transaction was a little unique, which kept things exciting the whole way through.  Two sisters and their husbands buying land together.  Working with a small town and county to push paperwork through.  Splitting the land into smaller parcels.  Building new roads.  But with perfect cooperation between the buyers and sellers, we accomplished great things and now my buyers will be calling this piece of land their new home!

That cooperation between the buyers and sellers sure came in especially handy when the closing date was missed.  The buyers already had plans to come up and stay on the property, which now required permission from the seller.  So they chatted and made a deal that if the buyers would keep the sellers’ cows for an extra day, they could go ahead and stay on the property.  Ha!  This is the Idaho way and I love it!

Once we did close, I got to go out and meet this great family on their new property.  They couldn’t wait to tell me about their meeting the sellers the day before.  The buyers arrived to the property to see the sellers (a young, sweet couple and their four tiny kids) chasing their cows and chickens around trying to corral them to get them in the trailer to move.  So one of the buyers takes the baby and the others join in the efforts to get all the animals gathered and into the trailer.  When all was said and done, this great team had loaded 2 cows and 26 chickens into the horse trailer and off the sellers went to their new life in Wyoming towing their 5th wheel full of their belongings and behind that, their horse trailer full of their animals. 

I LOVE this story so much!  It is such a great example of how we do things a little differently in Idaho.  I see this a lot as I work with so many clients from out of state.  Here, we tend to trust each other a great deal and we usually work together to get the job done.  It’s the very best!

Written by Becka Marston

See more posts by Becka Marston HERE!