Foreclosure Factors In The Boise Idaho Real Estate Industry

Foreclosures are a part of every market these days, but 2009 ravaged the Boise Idaho real estate market so savagely that just fewer than 1 in 20 homes were foreclosed upon. The fact that Boise has had a year over year increase in foreclosures of 103%, besting the previous record of 2008, putting Boise atop the nations list of highest foreclosure rates. Area homeowners are being forced to go back to the drawing board when they consider they live in the 24th most troubled real estate market in the nation. Given that the unemployment rate in the area is a steady 10.1%, and there is no scheduled company moving in, it may need a while to change this current market around.

The condition of the Boise Idaho real estate market has been a product of several key ingredients. Since 1980, it has experienced a population boom which has doubled its numbers, and business has grown into previously dark, unchartered corners. Tech industries have come into the combination, and Micron Technology is now the city’s greatest employer.

Most burgeoning cities experience a certain amount of trauma and the Boise Idaho real estate market had its share. During the boom housing costs jumped from around 150k to about 260k in the three fastest years, according to a major housing index. From then to now, prices have decreased by nearly 50%

Christine Loucks, an economics professor for BSU, attributes the foreclosure run-up in town to two main sources: A small speculative bubble in the Boise Idaho real estate industry that has burst and the fiscal slowdown. Whenever there is a quick population increase, there is frequently real estate speculation due to the increased demand for housing.

When prices started to slow down, the speculators pulled out, driving prices down further and entangling some buyers underwater. Many flippers were caught in the downswing and lost their property. Correspondingly, jobs began to disappear too. High tech jobs went through a serious round of layoffs with about 2000 Micron employees and hundreds of HP workers losing their jobs, increasing the misery index on the Boise Idaho real estate market.

According to one local economist, local home construction has nearly completely halted. Despite suffering through much less damaging crises than other areas of the west, the Boise Idaho real estate market has had its share of pain, but will rebound in the near future.

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