Is now a good time to buy or sell your home? We talked to experts to find out.

by Sophia Doumani

Wednesday, February 27th 2019

BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) — Forbes named Boise the fastest growing city in the country last year and it's showing no sign of slowing down.

Bill Conners, the President and C.E.O. of the Boise Chamber of Commerce, says that since 2010, Boise has been growing at about 15 percent per year, while other similar metros are only growing at about five or six percent a year.

"We've had an incredible increase in not only tourism, but meetings and conventions, which brings people in and allows them to experience Boise for the first time, which ultimately creates more interest in Boise," Conners said.

That interest is part of what is creating a spike in the housing market.

According to the Intermountain MLS, a real estate listing website, the median price of an existing home has more than doubled in the last six years, going from below $150,000 in 2012, to about $300,000 in 2018.

Data from Intermountain MLS

While those number may make it tempting to put your home on the market as soon as possible, emeritus BSU Economics Professor, Don Holley, says the time of year you put your home for sale is important.

"It's easier to sell a home in the summer and so you're going to get a better price in the summer," Holley said. "It's harder to sell a home in the winter, so you're not going to get the price in the winter that you'd get in the summer."

Local real estate agent Elijah McNeeley says people know that, and it's creating a problem in Boise because there simply aren't enough homes to sell right now.

"We have one month of housing supply right now," McNeeley said. "What that means is if the current homes that are on the market all sold, it would only take a month and then we'd be completely out."

McNeeley added that if you'd like to sell your home now, you should.

As for those wondering if it is a good time to buy right now, Holley says not to count on waiting until the housing market drops because the numbers don't indicate that's happening anytime soon.

"The data that we look at and the economic forecast that we have would indicate that prices will continue to rise, perhaps not as fast as before, but they'll still continue to rise," Holley said.

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