Boise ID Real Estate Deals With Micron Layoffs
Micron, Idaho’s largest employer, has quietly laid off 875 of its 11,000 employees in Boise within the past couple of weeks.
The company announced that it would reduce staff recently after reporting a $225 million loss in its most recent quarter, and has also said that further cuts are forthcoming.
A million here and a million there starts to add up after awhile.
The rumor mill had been working overtime as word of the layoffs spread and the company refused to level with either the Idaho Statesman or the State of Idaho about the depth of the layoffs.
They company finally broke its silence a few days ago when it filed a required government report and sent a letter to the state government detailing its plans for the future.
How will this affect the Boise real estate market?
No one really knows.
Micron laid off 1,100 employees about three years ago, concurrent with Jabil Circuit closing down its operations in Meridian, and the combined 1,600 lost jobs caused barely a ripple in the local real estate market.
This time could be different due to our current abundance of homes on the market.
As of this morning, there are 5,059 homes for sale in Ada County, vs. about 3,900 at the first of the year, and about 5,000 at the end of June.
Clearly, we don’t have everyone running for the door.
But, if a significant number of those laid-off employees place their homes on the market, we could see a further softening of our market.
We are already seeing longer marketing times, fewer buyers, and an abundance of price reductions.
It’s fascinating to watch all of the newer agents as they struggle with the buyer’s market they never expected.
Many of our agents (and homeowners too) have never experienced a slower market and they’re struggling as they learn that real estate doesn’t appreciate 24% every year.
Newer agents are taking overpriced listings, encouraging buyers to make lowball offers, and failing to get their buyers’ financing pre-approved before showing homes ~ all recipes for failure in our challenging market.
So . . . you’re wondering if this is the end of Boise real estate as we knew it, right?
Hardly.
Homes that are in top showing condition and priced correctly are still selling.
Not surprisingly, the sellers who still think it’s 2005 and that they’re gonna hit a home run are the ones who are left wondering why no one shows their home.
Those who face reality will do just fine.
July 16th, 2007 Posted in Uncategorized
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