Realtor: Idaho housing market not expected to slow down

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho housing market continues to stay hot, leaving some to ask 'when will the bubble burst?'

Mike Hicks, with the Anderson Hicks Group and Keller Williams, says it continues to be a seller's market, and the average selling price has grown in the last three years.

"Our average selling price back in January of 2019 was about $217,000," Hicks said. "And today it's about $400,000. So in three years, we've seen roughly a 90% increase in values, which is 30% per year, which is a lot. There's no doubt about it."

It's not just Idaho seeing that trend.

"Home prices are higher in Wyoming. If you go to Montana, prices are higher in Montana, go to Colorado, prices are higher there. Washington, Oregon, Utah, California all these states that surround us have a higher average home price," Hicks said. "And even in Idaho, if you look at Sun Valley, Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho, western Idaho, and Nampa and Boise. Prices are higher there."

Hicks says people moving to the area are creating higher prices.

"There's this rumor that it's everybody from California, but it's not just California. They're coming from all over the place here. People have discovered us, just kind of a, you know, a wonderful thing, although it changes us. It is wonderful. The local market struggles with these value increases because now I mean, I think there are only four or five homes on the market underneath 275,000."

This kind of growth has also led to affordability issues, which Anderson Hicks is working to address.

"We're developing a subdivision down in the Shelley area where our goal is to create a home that the average person can afford to buy," Hicks said. "And so we're pretty excited about that opportunity and working closely with the city of Shelley to try to make that happen. So affordability is probably the biggest thing that we see for the average home buyer today, as wages are trying to catch up with the cost of housing, whether you're renting or owning, for the most part, it is still cheaper to own than it just rent."

Houses on the market are selling fast.

"The average number of days on market is about 60 days," Hicks said. "The average days on the market in the mid-twenties, 25 days roughly for those that are selling. And of course, we have a lot of homes that are selling on their first week on the market."

With 33 years of experience, Hicks says he's never seen a market like this before.

"There's a good part of me that says, 'I hope we never see it again'", Hicks said. "It's hard on so many aspects of our economy when this happens and hard on people as well. It feels pretty good if you're a seller, feels pretty bad if you're selling and then have to buy again. So what goes around comes around. So a little more balance would be great and would be great to see us get back to that and have more normal rates."

Hicks doesn't see the bubble bursting.

"We have to see a calming of the market. Every sprinter has got to take a break, right? So our market has to ease up. But I don't see easing in respect to property values where we're just not going to see that."