Home sales rise while the number of houses on the market declines Boise real estate professionals credit federal tax incentives and low mortgage rates Sandra forester and bill roberts
broberts@ idahostatesman.com
Sandra Forester: 377-6464
sforester@idahostatesman.com
The supply of homes in the Treasure Valley market is now the lowest it has been since mid-2006.
Real estate professionals and builders would like to see the supply tighten even more. But they say the market still has plenty of good deals for first-time home buyers and for repeat buyers who want to move up.
For homeowners trying to sell, the latest news is good and bad. Sales are increasing, and the average number of days properties sit on the market has dropped from the mid-90s to the mid-80s. But median prices in Ada County fell nearly $8,000 from September to a level not seen since 2003.
The increased home sales in part reflect opportunities for buyers like the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, lowered home prices from short sales and foreclosures, and low interest rates, said Marc Lebowitz, executive director of the Ada County Association of Realtors.
A new law signed last week will extend the temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers, which was set to expire Nov. 30. The extension should continue to spur consumers, said KellyExline of www.kelly-sells.com. And an additional tax credit of up to $6,500 for repeat buyers who have lived in their homes for five of eight consecutive years should fuel additional sales, she said.
"I'm hoping that our new tax incentives are going to push some people who have been sitting on the fence," Exline said.
Liam Spencer, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate in Boise, said the National Association of Realtors reported that 1.9 million home buyers across the country took advantage of the first-time tax credit.
"We've gained 37 percent in home sales across the country due to the stimulus," he said. Spencer believes the trend will continue.
"It is fueling a huge sector of our economy, and that's housing," he said.
The number of single-family homes listed for sale is down from two-year highs of 5,098 in June 2008 in Ada County and 2,765 in July 2008 in Canyon County. It's in the range of the four-year lows of 3,195 homes in Ada and 1,373 homes in Canyon - both in May 2006, shortly before the Valley's housing bubble began to burst.
Spencer and other real estate professionals estimate that Ada County has about a seven-month supply of homes - the amount of time it would take to sell them if no new housing were added - while Canyon has about eight months' worth. A normal supply is about four months' worth, they say.
Chip Kinzler, president of the Snake River Valley Building Contractors Association, said fewer homes on the market will help builders.
"The lower the number of houses," said Kinzler, owner of Kinzler Builders and Development, "the more apt people are to build because they have less to choose from."
