Have you started looking for a home and set a range for how much you'd like to spend?
Be prepared to spend more.
If a house is listed for $300,000 in the Boise area, you'll likely need more than that to close the deal. How much more? Maybe $10,000 to $20,000 above listing price, real estate agent Rick Gehrke said.
"There doesn't seem to be anything reasonable, and even if it's priced reasonable, it doesn't end up selling for a reasonable price," Gehrke, an agent with Remax Executives in Nampa who sells in both Ada and Canyon counties, said by phone. "There could be one that looks good, and there's 13 offers and the best offer is $25,000 over full price."
For homes in the $350,000 to $400,000 range it's even worse, he said. Expect to pay $30,000 to $40,000 over asking price.
If you're a first-time buyer, good luck.
"I feel sorry for first-time buyers, because the interest rates are wonderful for them," he said. "But unless they're going to buy some dumpy 800-square-foot, two bedroom, one bath, 65-year-old piece of garbage, there just isn't anything affordable for them."
In December, the median price for homes sold in Ada County rose to a record $434,900, up $9,900 from November, also a record.
Cash offers are taking priority, shutting out buyers who need a conventional mortgage. Cash buyers can complete a deal much quicker, and there's no mortgage lender to require that a home is fixed up to take care of any problems, he said.
"I'm seeing more and more cases where parents are letting the kids live with them for a while," Gehrke said.
He has a client whose son was a Navy Seal, and he and his fiance cannot afford to buy a home.
"I'd love to see them get a house, but right now the prudent thing to do is to live with his mom for a year or so and save some money, and maybe things will settle out," Gehrke said.
Houses for sale remain scarce. Last month, there were a record-low 333 homes on the market. The month before, there were 408, also a record low.
A year ago, it took 40 days for the average Ada County home listed on the market to sell. In December, it took less than half that time, 18 days. In one year, the median price has risen by $65,100 and the number of homes on the market dropped from 1,631 to 408.
In Canyon County, the median price is$339,445, the 11th straight monthly record. The median has risen $84,445 since December 2019.
A total of 193 homes were listed for sale in Canyon County in December, slightly more than the record-low 168 in November. It took an average 17 days for homes to sell, compared with 46 in December 2019.
Mortgage rates last week
