In researching in/out migration into Idaho, I found some very interesting statistics.Many people and agents are typically stating there is no inventory nationwide, people aren't moving during a pandemic. THEY ARE WRONG!
Did you know that according to this article, https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/8-9-million-people-relocated-since-the-beginning-of-the-pandemic, 8.9 million people relocated since the beginning of the pandemic!
So why is there no inventory? Homes are selling at an extremely brisk pace so inventory is low. For example, here in Boise, Idaho; many homes have 5-15 offers within days of being listed. I have to coach my buyers that if they were competing with 10 other buyers on a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with a 2 car garage that was listed for $300,000 that if they were not successful in their offer, that they should expect at least eight of those same people to be bidding against them on the next offer. If that isn't bad enough, they might even offer more over the asking price than they did last time since they too are getting frustrated!
So where are these people who are selling going and where are the buyers coming from? Of course some are relocating within the state as they buy larger homes or move to acreages while others are downsizing locally. However, here is the in/out migration numbers for Idaho in 2020.
Nearly 90% of them moved to Washington/Oregon. The ones that I know that did typically went to open up or work in marijuana dispensaries or related support businesses. Ironically, many of the families that I helped with that were moving from Oregon and Washington were trying to avoid that very thing.
Many people think Idaho is being overrun by Californian's; however these statistics don't coincide with that belief. As a Realtor in Boise, I have had many clients moving to Boise from California. Several retired couples have moved here and then their children relocated to Idaho as well.
It makes me wonder if it isn't a type of confirmation bias against people from California. If you see an Oregon or Washington license plate in Boise, it isn't that alarming at all. However, due to some of stereotypes of political beliefs of some in Southern California, I wonder if our internal alarms go off more often when we see California license plates in Boise? I know I went to a Realtor conference last fall in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho; so I flew into Spokane and rented a car. When I noticed it had California license plates, I would have returned it and taken a different car, but due to Covid-19, there was no one attending the rental car parking lot.
I felt like a hypocrite since I don't believe in "labeling" people and yet I felt labeled by the license plate! One thing I did years ago was I got custom license plates for my real estate vehicles so people know I am from Idaho, but can't tell what county I am from. I achieved this by obtaining custom license plates instead of the county issued ones that do show the county of origin (i.e. 1A ____ license plates are from Ada County, 2A plates are from Adams County, etc).
I think the trend will continue to have more people moving to Idaho from larger metro areas since people can typically get more square foot for the dollar and have larger lots. I know my focus on 2021 is selling custom built homes on 1+ acre within an hour of Boise. People are wanting the room and ability to grow a garden, maybe raise a calf for their own beef and the ability to sight in their rifles without having to go to an indoor gun range (but we do have those too).
If you are considering moving to Idaho or having a custom home built at a reasonable price, give me a call at 208-573-0471. I would love to put my 30 years of licensed Idaho real estate experience to work for you!
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