IDAHO FALLS — The real estate market in Bonneville County may never again see the heady numbers it did before the recession of 2008, but a survey of homes sold in the first seven months of this year gives the sunniest picture in a long time.
Marketing statistics on Snake River Multiple Listing Service’s we page offer the best numbers since 2007. The number of homes sold — 993 — is the best since ’07, when 1,043 homes were sold between Jan. 1 and July 31. Moreover, homes were selling as fast this year as they were in 2007, a year in which practically anyone with a pulse could get a home loan, and probably more than they could afford. The easy credit of eight or nine years ago would be one explanation for the higher median prices we see as we crunch the numbers.
Looking at the numbers, it’s pretty obvious that in 2011 things couldn’t have been much worse. Home sales were down nearly 46 percent, prices were bottoming out and the average sale was taking close to four months.
The first half of 2012 wasn’t much better. More homes sold, but at the same slow pace.
In all, if agents were happy last year with the way things were trending, they ought to be ecstatic now. Sales in the first seven months of 2015 were up 37 percent over 2014 and homes were selling on average a month faster.
“It’s been really, really busy,” said Tanyan Davies-Wall of Better Homes and Gardens/Voigt Davis Realty.
On the last day of August she had four homes closing, then wrote an offer for a couple she had showed a home the day before.
If there is one hole in the market, it’s first-time buyers.
“Most of the buyers I’ve seen are buying their second or third homes,” she said. “A lot of people who could be first-time buyers aren’t talking to lenders because they think they won’t get approved.”
Cameron Armstrong, an agent for Keller Williams East Idaho, said he has seen the same thing and that it could be a hangover from the rocky economy.
“It’s not really hard to qualify financially, but a lot of first time buyers seem to need to get their finances in order. Their FICO scores could use some TLC,” he said. “Sixty to 70 percent of the buyers I’ve seen need to do a little better with their credit scores. That might mean paying down some credit card debt or paying off some outstanding bills.”
Also, external concerns about the world economy and even the 2016 presidential election could be keeping some people from getting into the market, he said. Those who do shouldn’t have a hard time selling or buying a house.
On the buyers’ side, people who declared bankruptcy in 2009, 2010 and 2011 are just coming back after the mandatory three-year time-out.
And some sellers may be straddling the fence waiting for the value of their homes to rise. They may not be upside-down – owing more than they could possibly make on a sale – but they’re not confident of getting enough money out of their home to make it worth their while either, he said.
“The market is incredibly strong,” Armstrong said. “We just need inventory. There are buyers out there.”
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