BOISE, Idaho — For the first time in a while, the supply of homes is consistently picking up in the area, because builders are feeling cautiously optimistic. But experts said, they're still not building enough.
Elizabeth Hume, President of Boise Regional REALTORs, said there are a lot of people in the area who have held off on buying a home because of high prices and mortgage rates.
"Nationally, demand is there, and locally, we have a lot of buyers that are still young buyers that need to buy," Hume said.
But now, Hume said those folks don't just want to buy a home, they need to buy a home, "I think the pain point is going to hit here soon, where people say, 'Okay now we've had two babies, or now we need no stairs in the house,' or there's something else that's changed that they're not able to hold on to that home. These are not financial reasons, they're just not able to stay in it because life has changed, and they're needing to move into a different home."
But while the demand is there, the supply is not there. So, why aren't builders building more homes?
Dan Richter, Immediate Past President of the Idaho Home Builders Association, said, they can't, partly because of supply chain and labor issues. But also, he said, because existing neighbors are pushing back,
"I guess we call them NIMBYs, 'not in my backyard,' folks. And it has really put a high cost to getting any kind of development approved, and if you can get it approved at all," said Richter.
But Richter said, while there are still plenty of hurdles, they are getting easier to get over, "When I visit with the people in my industry, the other builders and other developers, we're all feeling more positive than we felt in a long, long time. We think we're moving in the right direction. We think that maybe we'll get back on track."
And that confidence is inspiring more building. Year over year, the number of active listings went up by a decent amount last month, as it has all year long.
"We all are putting more houses in the ground," said Richter. "I think we're probably building an inventory in anticipation of things getting better, we're all feeling it. We're seeing more people go through our sales office. We're getting more calls. Our websites are more active."
Richter also added that a lot fewer of those new homes being built are pre-sold, but he does expect to sell them. And if he doesn't, he says he's prepared to slow down the pace of building again.