Here’s a breakdown of Boise Area (Ada County) new home sales for January through October of 2010.
Total New Construction
Includes all age categories of new construction
- # Closed Sales = 917
- Average Sales Price = $198,948
- Median Sales Price = $169,450
To Be Built
These are new homes that were pre-sold prior to starting construction
- # Closed Units = 47
- Average Sales Price = $231,048
- Median Sales Price = $234,700
Under Construction
These are new homes that were sold during construction
- # Closed Units = 244
- Average Sales Price = $216,810
- Median Sales Price = $199,834
New – Never Occupied
These are new homes that were sold after completion of construction (spec homes)
- # Closed Units = 626
- Average Sales Price = $189,169
- Median Sales Price = $162,188
Data obtained from Intermountain MLS on 11/14/10 and includes Ada County single-family homes on lot/acreage; data does not include condo/townhome properties.
Chris G. says
Are builders giving concessions to unload finished inventory? And for unbuilt homes, what kind of concessions could a buyer expect?
Also, in your opinion, how’s the quality? Are good builders still putting up good quality houses today?
Build Idaho says
So how would you interpret this data?
Phil Hoover says
Hiya Trey ~
Thanks for your comment.
The numbers indicate that new construction has dwindled to a fraction of its former portion of our market (about 20% of all sales).
There are VERY few build jobs sold prior to construction and very little spec home construction.
And, we most of our former builders have been vaporized.
Do you agree?
Phil Hoover says
Hiya Chris ~
It’s fairly common in our market for sellers to pay buyers’ closing costs.
Beyond that, each transaction stands on its own and everything is negotiable.
If a home is properly priced or underpriced to generate a sale, you would have less negotiating power and possibly even competition from other offers.
As you might expect, there are always variations in quality from builder to builder and a lot of it depends upon area, quality of materials/workmanship, cost of the lot, etc.
We definitely have some excellent builders who build quality homes at fair prices.
That said, you can often get a better deal on existing construction if you can find a quality home owned by a motivated seller.
When you are ready, I will help you find a quality home at a fair price.
Thanks!
Phil