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The migration from Washington, Oregon and California.
I would go further out away from Boise. Why is that people are attracted to Boise?
Because its trendy, and its a better situation in a lot of ways than what they are coming from. Same reason everyone is moving to Nashville, Austin, Richmond, Charlotte, etc. as well.
Of the many people I know that moved to the Treasure Valley, none have moved to the city of Boise itself. But then I didn’t retire to Boise itself either. The Boise vision for the future is high density housing, a rail system for transportation and higher taxes. Reminds me of LA.
But this affects the entire region. Eagle is not immune to growth in Boise or Nampa, and vice versa. The roads clog up the same. Consider State St. and Eagle Rd., which are the two main roads in and out from Eagle, and people driving from Meridian or Boise. Public transportation is a huge factor in this.
Median home price has skyrocketed from $150K in Jan 2012 to $342K currently.... i'm sure incomes in that area have not doubled in the last 6 years, what has caused the jump in prices?
The answer to your question is very simple: financing terms. 90%+ of loans made in the last decade have been subprime. The borrowers haven't all been "subprime" per se, but the terms of the vast majority of loans have been: <20% down payments, down payment assistance loans, >100% financing, >50% debt to income, stated income (liar loans), <650 FICO scores, FHA/VA loans, etc. Subprime is the way that the Obama administration stopped the housing market from declining further as it would have if they hadn't made financing very loose. Boise is not unique in that regard, and it has also been a hot spot for real estate speculators, AirBNB, 2nd home buyers, etc.
The answer to your question is very simple: financing terms. 90%+ of loans made in the last decade have been subprime. The borrowers haven't all been "subprime" per se, but the terms of the vast majority of loans have been: <20% down payments, down payment assistance loans, >100% financing, >50% debt to income, stated income (liar loans), <650 FICO scores, FHA/VA loans, etc. Subprime is the way that the Obama administration stopped the housing market from declining further as it would have if they hadn't made financing very loose. Boise is not unique in that regard, and it has also been a hot spot for real estate speculators, AirBNB, 2nd home buyers, etc.
Not exactly true.
Subprime loans went away 12 years ago and have not come back in any sort of fashion since then. Yes, there are alternative programs out there, but not the subprime loans of pre 2008. Probably 90% plus of the loans being written are plain vanilla FHA, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The debt to income ratio limits are under 50% as well.
Most of my people buying a home are rolling over equity from previous home sales and putting 20% or more down. Others, such as first time home buyers are typically using the Idaho Housing programs and there are restrictions on those as well. Its not a case of "fog a mirror, get a loan" like it was prior to 2008.
What its cause, in my opinion, is simple supply and demand. More people want to move here than the supply of available homes. This creates higher prices as some people are willing to pay more for the same house. The builders cant build enough new homes fast enough to meet demand.
Wrong. Subprime did not go away; it is back and supercharged with government approval! FHA/VA/USDA and Idaho Housing assistance are subprime by definition. Fannie and Freddie are into subprime now also with 97% LTV. And someone "rolling over equity" into another house had their previous house bought by a subprime borrower, so they are indirectly beneficiaries of subprime lending.
IMHO that is one of the bigger drivers of housing price increases in metro areas in the West. There are fewer metro areas, surrounded by very rural expanses that lack any smaller metro areas or smaller cities of any size that attract population. The eastern US has far more smaller metro areas with lower housing prices by comparison.
Bingo! I second this.
That was our biggest struggle when we decided to search for a new experience. The catch was we still preferred to stay out West. Well, there are only so many cities to look at and it gets even worse when you start eliminating the outrageously expensive (and outrageously political) cities. The TV is still more populated than we wanted for a residence. It was actually our Plan B because it's a safe back up option. Preferably we wanted more like what Salem is to Portland. Not too big but still has everything you need day-to-day and then not far from a city that has everything you could ever need. The weather is even agreeable to me since I grew up in it. I'm sure you can guess the exception that kept us away.
Anyway, it's just an example. In the Eastern US you have so many midsize cities in relatively close proximity to large cities. So many more variables that help mitigate surging real estate. Otherwise, you have people like me sort of reluctantly living somewhere because it checks several of the boxes but some important ones are left open.
But this affects the entire region. Eagle is not immune to growth in Boise or Nampa, and vice versa. The roads clog up the same. Consider State St. and Eagle Rd., which are the two main roads in and out from Eagle, and people driving from Meridian or Boise. Public transportation is a huge factor in this.
Oh no don't need more traffic or clogged up traffic jams.
IMHO that is one of the bigger drivers of housing price increases in metro areas in the West. There are fewer metro areas, surrounded by very rural expanses that lack any smaller metro areas or smaller cities of any size that attract population. The eastern US has far more smaller metro areas with lower housing prices by comparison.
I third this. More 'economic regional trading centers' are needed. Plus there is always the 'new and trendy' locale; it's the 'crows pursuing the shiney object' syndrome LOL
Now as for prices, the NE USA is comparable to the Western states on average, but it is the high price jumps seen in the West that do not occur as frequently. The rush to leave the big cities in the NE is changing some of that; Maine is one area seeing some big price jumps here and there as folks flee from the deterioration of NYC in particular.
Oh no don't need more traffic or clogged up traffic jams.
I don't understand your post.
Right now we already have too much traffic and traffic jams. It will only get worse as more people move here, and our surface capacity is tapped out. Right now most of our main commuting corridors are four lane surface streets (not freeways). We have very little room to expand, and if and when our population doubles, we're in real trouble (you can look to LA to see how that mode of transportation planning works).
Notwithstanding the entire issue of induced demand.
If Boise is going to continue to grow (and it will), a robust public transportation option that people use is the only path forward. The problem is we have no way to fund it until the legislature changes course.
If you're actually looking into moving into the area (which is hard to tell - you've been on this particular subforum for quite some time now but seem no more or less inclined to move to any particular place in
Idaho), and you're looking to move away from the sort of traffic congestion you find in the Bay Area, you better hope and pray we get some sort of public transportation system in place. Otherwise, given our limited infrastructure, we'll be in constant gridlock.
That was our biggest struggle when we decided to search for a new experience. The catch was we still preferred to stay out West. Well, there are only so many cities to look at and it gets even worse when you start eliminating the outrageously expensive (and outrageously political) cities. The TV is still more populated than we wanted for a residence. It was actually our Plan B because it's a safe back up option. Preferably we wanted more like what Salem is to Portland. Not too big but still has everything you need day-to-day and then not far from a city that has everything you could ever need. The weather is even agreeable to me since I grew up in it. I'm sure you can guess the exception that kept us away.
Anyway, it's just an example. In the Eastern US you have so many midsize cities in relatively close proximity to large cities. So many more variables that help mitigate surging real estate. Otherwise, you have people like me sort of reluctantly living somewhere because it checks several of the boxes but some important ones are left open.
The Western US as a whole is the most urbanized region in the US. This seems counter-intuitive because of our vast public lands. But more people live in urban areas here in the West than anywhere else in the US.
Small towns will continue to lose population and die on the vine, unless they're close enough to a larger town / city to be a bedroom or commuter town. The distance for jobs, services, and other opportunities is too great to overcome otherwise.
What you'll continue to see is sprawl. Cities will continue to grow outward into the smaller towns in the metro area, until it all becomes one big vast metropolis. That pretty much happens everywhere, but it is more pronounced in the West because of the sort of "hard stop" at town limits where you get into rough terrain, natural features, or public lands.
If someone is looking for a small town lifestyle, but needs the nearby convenience or jobs that come from a larger town or city nearby, that is hard to find in the West. Best to look to the Midwest or Eastern US for a more suburban, rural, or small town lifestyle that is actually possible.
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The migration from Washington, Oregon and California. 
