Boise Real Estate Blog

Here’s an interesting breakdown of Boise new homes listing inventory, broken down by price range.

Boise New Homes: Under $100,000

• # Available: None
• Average Asking Price: N/A
• Median Asking Price: N/A

Boise New Homes: $100,000  to $199,999

• # Available: 202 (26.7% of all)
• Average Asking Price: $172,498
• Median Asking Price: $174,140

Boise New Homes: $200,000 to $299,999

• # Available: 265 (35.1% of all)
• Average Asking Price: $245,787
• Median Asking Price: $240,865

Boise New Homes: $300,000 to $399,999

• # Available: 184 (24.3% of all)
• Average Asking Price: $352,491
• Median Asking Price: $349,900

Boise New Homes: $400,000 to $499,900

• # Available: 60 (8.0% of all)
• Average Asking Price: $444,947
• Median Asking Price: $439,945

Boise New Homes: $500,000+

• # Available: 45 (6.0% of all)
• Average Asking Price: $704,377
• Median Asking Price: $589,900

Boise New Homes: Overall

• # Available: 756
• Average Asking Price: $295,278
• Median Asking Price: $259,900

Takeaways

• Most new spec homes are being built in the lower to middle price ranges.
• Most new homes in the higher price ranges are pre-sold build jobs.

Data pertains to new Ada County single-family homes on lot or acreage.
Data does not include condo or townhome properties.
New = To Be Built, Under Construction, and New-Never Occupied age categories.
 

I’ve recently seen some news comparing the cost of Boise new homes vs. the cost of Boise resale homes.

That news spoke of dramatically higher prices for new homes vs. resale homes, and I was skeptical about its accuracy.

So, I drilled into actual Intermountain MLS data this morning to get the true numbers.

Here’s a breakdown of MLS data for those two categories of Boise real estate sales.

Boise Resale Home Sales

• Average Price: $217,233
• Median Price: $184,900

Boise New Home Sales

• Average Price: $305,035
  % Difference: +40.4%
• Median Price: $284,000
  % Difference: +53.6%

As the data indicates, new home prices are substantially higher than resale home prices.

The reasons for higher new home prices are numerous, including:

• Higher land costs
• Higher materials costs
• Higher labor costs
• Differences in location, size, features, and amenities.

New homes in the Boise real estate market continue to sell despite costing more than resale homes.

That’s because many buyers want a brand-new home with the latest finishes, features, and that intoxicating new home aroma.

We’ve closed 703 new home sales YTD in the Boise real estate market, comprising 19.3% of our 3,649 total YTD closed home sales.

Data pertains to Ada County single-family homes on lot or acreage.

Data does not include condo or townhome properties.

Data includes sales from 01/01/2014 to 06/19/2014

New home = To Be Built, Under Construction, and New-Never Occupied ages.

There are a lot of Boise new homes listed in our Multiple Listing Service.

In fact, 777 (28.9%) of all 2,691 homes for sale in our MLS are new homes.

You might think all of those listings are completed new homes eagerly awaiting new owners, but that’s not true.

Many of those listings are “to be built” homes that will never be built unless buyers agree to have them built.

In fact, 354 (45.6%) of all 777 new homes listed for sale in our MLS now are “to be built”.

We call those “to be built” homes “build jobs”.

Builders like to sell build jobs because they know they have the home sold before they start building it vs. building a “spec home” (a home built on speculation that it will sell).

And, with a build job contract in hand, the builder can often get another construction loan and start building another home.

Data pertains to Ada County single-family homes on lot or acreage.

Data does not include condo or townhome properties.

New homes = To Be Built, Under Construction, and New-Never Occupied MLS categories.

Here’s an interesting comparison of Canyon County, Idaho new home sales for 2012 vs. 2013.
2012 Canyon County, Idaho New Home Sales

• # Sold: 3,010
• Average Sales Price: $114,040
• Median Sales Price: $96,163

2013 Canyon County, Idaho New Home Sales

• # Sold: 3,172
  % Change: +5.4%

• Average Sales Price: $141,834
  % Change: +24.4%

• Median Sales Price: $124,900
  % Change: +29.9%

Data pertains to Canyon County, Idaho new homes on lot or acreage.  Data does not include condo or townhome properties.
Date range = January 1 to December 21  of each year.
Age = To Be Built, Under Construction, and New-Never Occupied.
 

Here’s an interesting comparison of Boise new home sales for 2012 vs. 2013.

2012 Boise New Home Sales

• # Sold: 1,401
• Average Sales Price: $246,244
• Median Sales Price: $220,000

2013 Boise New Home Sales

• # Sold: 1,613
  % Change: +15.1%

• Average Sales Price: $280,266
  % Change: +13.8%

• Median Sales Price: $262,900
  % Change: +19.5%

Data pertains to Ada County new homes on lot or acreage.  Data does not include condo or townhome properties.
Date range = January 1^st to December 20^th of each year.
Age = To Be Built, Under Construction, and New-Never Occupied.