BOISE, Idaho – Anyone who has bought a home recently or is looking to buy one knows how expensive and competitive the real estate market in Treasure Valley is. On the other hand, it has been a great market for sellers.

The median sale price continues to climb month-over-month and year-over-year. In fact, the median selling price of a home in Ada County just hit a new high in May at over $600,000.

Figures from Boise Regional Realtors show a strong upward trend in the median selling price of homes in Ada County over the past four and a half years. In January 2018, it was $279,000. In May of that year, it rose to $305,000.

Here are the median sale prices in Ada County for the months of May since:

• 2019 $340,000
• 2020 $360,000
• 2021 $518,550
• 2022 $602,250 (Ada County record high)

You can see the jump from May 2021 to May 2022 is the largest in years at nearly $85,000, a 16.1% increase. Additionally, the May price increased by $7,000 compared to April.

As KTVB reported, the causes of rising home prices include population growth, demand outstripping the supply of available homes, many buyers overpaying their homes, supply chain issues supply and increased construction costs. But can prices keep going up, up and up?

There are signs that market conditions are changing. For the month of May, Boise Regional Realtors reported home prices rose again, as previously reported, but sales of foreclosed homes fell for the third consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Sales of foreclosed homes fell 5.8% to 894 from May 2021. The percentage of pending home sales also fell 12.7%.

The length of time homes stay on the market is also increasing, from an average of eight days before closing in May 2021 to 11 days last month.

For an overview of the area, here are the latest housing market numbers for Elmore and Gem counties. Boise Regional Realtors reports that the trailing 12-month median selling price of homes in Elmore County was $316,500 in May. That’s a 21.5% increase from May 2021. In Gem County, the median sale price reached $445,586 in May of this year. That’s up 33.5% from May last year. Keep in mind that the number of transactions in these counties is much lower than in Ada County.

Boise Regional Realtors 2022 President Becky Enrico-Crum is monitoring factors likely to impact home sales and prices in the future, including rising mortgage interest rates.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Becky Enrico Crum: “We actually expect to see interest rates continue to climb a bit in the future. So that will affect buyers who were qualified at a certain price level. ‘ll really have to work on their credit scores and save a little more for the down payment. Because it really depends on their payment. They always want to make sure, can I afford that payment and what type of house can J buy with this house payment.”

Doug Petcash: “So do you expect to continue to see this trend that we’ve seen in your monthly reports that the median sale price may continue to rise while home sales continue to drop a bit?”

Becky Enrico Crum: “I’m not sure we’re going to continue to see the price go up. I think what we’re going to finally see is that price stabilizes. I keep saying where’s the ceiling? I think we hit the ceiling, and you know, it’s a very big ceiling.”

In this edition of Viewpoint, Enrico-Crum discusses home sales and price trends so far and the market forces that are likely to affect them in the months ahead. POV airs Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. on Idaho’s NewsChannel 7 right after Meet the Press.

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