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Real estate experts are busy trying to figure out where the market is going and how is it going to perform in the post-coronavirus world.

2020 was supposed to be the year of Boise, Idaho. In the annual report released last December by Realtor.com., Boise landed on the No. 1 spot as the hottest residential housing market in the U.S. going into 2020. The report looked at both price data and the volume of home sales across 100 largest metropolitan areas, Boise being the only Idaho city included in the research.

Three key factors were taken into account – a strong local economy, good job growth rate and a sizeable housing inventory. Boise is indeed hot. Over the past few years, the city has seen an influx of out-of-state buyers, attracted by comparatively low prices and good amenities.

So, how is the coronavirus crisis going to affect the real estate Boise market?

Not much, analysts say.

Nationwide, house prices are expected to grow at half the rate forecast before the pandemic, due to rising unemployment and economic uncertainty. At least in the short term.

However, things are expected to pick up later in the year and definitely in the first quarter of 2021.

The housing market will rebound much quicker from the COVID-19 crisis than it did after the 2008 economic calamity, as this time real estate was not involved in the crash as it was 12 years ago.

 

7.6% price appreciation forecast for Boise, Idaho

 

Market analysts are especially confident real estate markets in the western half of the US will be back to business as usual quicker than the eastern part. Once again, experts are placing their bets on the prospects of Boise, Idaho, expected to outperform other major cities in the western part of the country.

According to a report published by Veros Real Estate Solutions in early April, Boise, Idaho, will see a 7.6% year-over-year price appreciation in the first quarter of 2021. Idaho Falls will also do well, with a predicted appreciation of 6.3%.

Experts say the housing market is based on sound economic principles this time around, so real estate prices will pick up as soon as employment rates bounce back to where they were before the pandemic.

What this means for Boise, Idaho is that once the health crisis is gone, as far as real estate opportunities are concerned the city will be as attractive as it was before. The virus doesn’t change anything with respect to that.

Boise is what experts call a late bloomer in the current housing cycle. This translates to plenty of inventory and prices that are within reach. The city will certainly benefit from the current trend – people moving out of larges coastal cities, which have become over-crowded and way too expensive, to inland areas.

Places like Boise, Idaho offer affordable prices and good living conditions, with all the amenities new-comers are used to. Not to mention that big cities on both the eastern and the western coast fared much worse than smaller cities during the pandemic, one more reason for people to move out.