Where are the Buyers? *HUGE CHANGES* in the Boise, Idaho housing market! The Boise Idaho Housing Market 2025 is, well…experiencing a housing market shift. With the housing market bubble that has expanded rapidly over the last several years, will Boise Idaho real estate experience falling home prices, or will the Idaho housing market just stall while sellers wait it out? If you’re thinking of relocating to Boise, Idaho, retiring in Boise, Idaho, moving to Boise, Idaho, or currently living in Boise, Idaho, make sure you watch this video to get the latest info on the Boise Idaho real estate market!
Is the Boise Housing Market, and the National Housing Market as a whole, at a complete standstill? Today we are discussing the interesting things that are happening in our shifting housing market, and we are not just seeing a big slow down, in some sectors, we are at a complete stall. And stick around to the end of this video as I will discuss something incredibly important for you to know if you’ve lived in your home for quite some time and are thinking of selling.
So the Boise Housing Market started out pretty typical for a pre-spring market, by mid to late February we were seeing more listings coming on the market and, with buyers who were waiting all winter for new inventory, those newer listings sold pretty quickly. And the first few weeks of March, we saw quite a bit of new inventory coming on the market, as we always do in March, but, we began to see the first inklings of slower buyer demand. March inventory overall was up 22% from March 2024, but pendings were also up 11% year over year and sales were up 4.2% year over year, but we continued the trend of longer days on market overall, averaging 36 days.
But the biggest change in our housing market is one that is not showing up yet in the data, and that is the huge stalling of the housing market for certain sectors, leaving many sellers wondering, where did all the buyers go? In fact, it was a few weeks ago that the change in the real estate market was so abrupt, it was almost palpable. It’s a common thread in my real estate agent networking group posts… my listings are priced and prepared right, but we are still not having any showings. It’s like the housing market in certain sectors hit a wall.
So while there are many factors that are causing our housing market standstill, what I am hearing most often from hesitant buyers are about the high interest rates, and fear of what the results of tariffs will have on inflation as well as on people’s investments. Our interest rates did drop down to about 6.6% a few weeks ago, but quickly spiked back up to the low 7% range. So for anyone who has to get a loan, that significantly affects affordability. And then it’s from the retirement cash buyer group that I hear the most hesitation on buying a home right now due to fears about investments and what the fallout from tariffs may be. And that’s a big change for us as last year, the retired cash buyers made up a huge percentage of our housing market, so they are holding back a bit right now.
And although we had a few good weeks of new inventory, it has been slower coming on the market again due to the same issue as we faced all of 2024, sellers need to give up their low interest rates if they are going to move into another home with a new loan. We are seeing more sellers willing to do that when they have enough pressures, such as large family changes, health challenges, or needing to move for work, as many have waited for rates to drop the past year, it didn’t happen, and they just really have to make the move regardless of rates.
Another change for us this year that is causing our Boise Housing Market to slow is the slowing of the housing markets in our feeder cities. These are the cities that we regularly help people move here from, like San Diego, Phoenix, Seattle, Orange County, and many others. I know of several people who need to sell their homes before they can purchase in the Boise area, and their homes in the large cities are also sitting on the market with few showings. Last year, those markets moved along pretty well, which kept our market moving along pretty well.
So even though it feels like the Boise Housing Market as a whole is stalling, it’s not, as I said, only certain sectors are. So let’s break that out a bit. The sector of the housing market that is still hopping along is those homes under $600,000- both in new construction and resale homes. And last year, the homes at that price point that were two story with a primary bedroom upstairs were sitting on the market longer, due to families not wanting or being able to pay the higher rates. But not this year – if they are priced right and show well, they are selling in a weekend – especially on the resale homes- and I think there are a few of reasons for this change. According to the Idaho Department of Labor, skilled labor job postings are up 20%, with their salaries up 31%. I have talked with people moving here due to new jobs, and they are likely to purchase in that under $600,000 range. Another reason for the change is that buyers who were on the fence but are now highly motivated and can afford it have realized that the rates may not come down, so they have grown to accept the rates are what they are for now. And another reason is that our inventory of resale homes is quite low compared to new construction.
Did you know that, according to realtor.com, Idaho has the highest amount of active new construction listings of any state? 40% of our listings are new construction, and we beat the next highest state, Tennessee, by 7%. For example, let’s say you want a home in Star Idaho that is 3 bedrooms, at least 1800 square feet, and between $500 and $600 thousand. As of today, there are 50 homes that meet that criteria, and only 6 are resale homes. So if a buyer doesn’t want to wait for a home to be built, or they don’t want a small lot the new construction homes are built on, or if they want to live closer to the center of town, then they will wait for a nice resale home to come on the market, and when they do, especially if they are in Boise or Meridian, they sell quickly. It appears as if, so far this year, many buyers are focusing on being more “in the middle of town” and not wanting to live on the outskirts. And the reason for that could go back to the fact that we have fewer people able to work from home, and more people moving here for specific jobs they have to commute to.
Bur for new construction, homes under $600,000 are selling, on average, in 35 days, which is nearly twice as fast as new construction homes over $600,000. And it gets even slower for sales on new construction homes over the million dollar price point. Of course that’s due to affordability and demand, and most of the builders selling under $600,000 have incentives to get the interest rates down to the high 4s in some cases, while most of the builders over that price point are not offering incentives for rates.
The sector of the market that is single story, appeals to retiree buyers, and is a resale home in the right neighborhood, will also sell more quickly right now. But homes listed over about $700,000 or so, even resale homes, that is the market that is significantly stalling. As of yet, we are not seeing too many price decreases in these homes. In general, people are holding onto price and just accepting that their home will be on the market longer. Just this week, as I’ve been tracking this, I have seen a few listings here and there do dramatic price decreases due to highly motivated sellers. But overall, as this trend of certain sectors stalling has just been showing up the last few weeks, it’s hard to say if we should expect price decreases or just a continuation of longer days on market.
And I told you to stick around to the end for an important consideration if you are thinking of selling your home and you’ve lived in it for quite some time- your equity. Normally equity is a good thing. Did you know you can have too much equity? I mean too much to the point that you have to pay capital gains taxes when you sell? I have had several clients in the last few years who had purchased their homes at low prices 20 years ago, and gained enough equity that when they sold, they had to pay stiff capital gains taxes. So I am not an accountant or tax advisor, so please, consult a tax professional when you are considering selling your home. But in general,when you sell your home, you will have to pay capital gains taxes on any equity you have gained that is over $500,000 for married filing jointly couples or over $250,000 of gain for individual tax filers. Now there are write offs of home ownership that can help you with that. But if you are close to that $500,000 in equity gain, maybe it’s worth considering selling the home and moving to a new home to reset your basis, or possibly renovating it as those costs can be part of the write off, and there are other options to help as well. What to do about your equity gain is between you and your tax advisor, but I just don’t want anyone to forget to consider the tax implications on their large equity gains if they’ve lived in their house for many years and then decide to sell. It’s an important factor in what you can afford in the purchase of your next home.
If you’re thinking of moving to the Boise Idaho area or selling a home in the Boise Idaho area, please reach out to my team and I at our website, summeraston realestate.com, where you can also find tons of community information there, free downloads, like our relocation guide, sign up for our monthly newsletter, or set up a time to chat. We love to help you understand if a move is right for you. You can also follow us on Instagram for more day to day boise updates.
Thanks so much for watching, and we will see you next time.
