Boise homeowners who had to decide whether or not to put their home on the market this year have had an easy time sizing up the real estate Big Picture. Across the country, prices have been rising steadily but moderately. Sales may be down, but that’s because too few properties are being offered. And the financing picture remains favorable.
Putting it all together, the prices news is good for sellers, the lack of inventory is less good news for buyers—while the low home loan rates is good news for both buyers and sellers. That combination may be a little muddled, but is certainly encouraging for sellers. The big question about the future is what’s likely to change in the coming year?
The single individual who is probably best situated to make the most educated guess about that is Dr. Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist and often-quoted soothsayer. He speaks in the guarded words that Chief Economists tend to favor, but at this summer’s end, his projections were more than usually sure-footed.
Long story short for the three trends that have defined the past few years’ markets:

• Price increases at heated levels will self-limit: in 2019, expect price growth to moderate (in the sustainable neighborhood of 3.5%).
• The years-long trend of seeing “too few” properties hitting the market should soften: in 2019, anticipate a rise in inventory.
• Reversing the 2018 sales level slump, 2019 overall sales are projected rise by 2%.

Those predictions make for a rosy picture—particularly for Boise observers who recall the aftermath of overheated price and sales levels. Dr. Yun sounded notes of confidence for them, expecting the hottest local markets to moderate not from weak buyer demand, but because of insufficient supply. With mortgage default and foreclosure rates near historic lows, the bottom line of his forecast comes with the reassurance that concerns that the housing market may have peaked—and be headed for a significant slowdown—are “unfounded.”
Getting a clear picture of how your own home might expect to perform if and when it joins the Boise listings depends on more than just the temperature of the Boise real estate market over the coming year. Call me for a truly no-obligation consultation to discuss more specifics Boise homeowners should expect in 2019!