A recent report being cited by MarketWatch indicates that the coastal towns are not the big winners in this bonanza real estate market. The typical places that we would expect to be overvalued are not – Los Angeles and New York – but actually the number one over valued city is Boise, Idaho. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. This anomaly of a market could never have been predicted because it is the direct by-product of the pandemic driving the work-from-home economy, the flight from high cost-of-living urban centers to rural areas, the demand for homes that will accommodate home offices, as well as beautiful scenery. This unforeseen combination made Boise a destination of many of the tech workers who were living in Oregon, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even Santa Barbara.
According to the report, Boise, Idaho represents a 76% premium in home values. Here is how it broke down:
1 Boise, Idaho 76%
2 Austin, Texas 62%
3 Ogden, Utah 59%
4 Las Vegas, Nevada 53%
5 Atlanta, Georgia 52%
And at the bottom of the list at number 10 is Detroit, Michigan 48.3%.
The report cited that the areas in which a person overpaid the least were Baltimore and New York at 0.7% and 1.7%, respectively.
Some of the editorial comment attached to the report encourages buyers to negotiate aggressively at this high end of the market. The authors of the report even suggest that renting might be a plausible strategy at this particular point in time since homes bought at the peak of a cycle may take up to 12 to 15 years to begin to reflect any appreciation. This was the case when the market crashed in 2006; such homes in Florida are just now coming back to those peak-level prices, which are in the $350,000 range.
If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.
Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single-family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.