To buy, or not to buy? Realty owner provides insights on Kuna's housing market

• By ALX STEVENS editor@kunamelba.com
• Jul 4, 2018

Joy Garrison wants to move, but she’s facing one critical obstacle: Garrison is afraid she won’t be able to afford to buy.

At the June school board meeting, trustee Garrison asked Ada County Assessor Bob McQuade if the housing market will “slow down” in the near future. McQuade answered no.

Garrison currently rents a house and would like to buy one. She will probably wait until next year.

“They come and go so fast,” Garrison said, “and they are so high-priced it’s difficult to buy one.”

Garrison’s is just one instance of a housing market trend that Jeff Miller, owner of Stubbs Reality, is seeing: a bottleneck in available house inventory.

As the owner of a real estate business, Miller said he likes to see a balanced housing market, meaning neither sellers nor buyers have the advantage.

Now, in Kuna and across the Treasure Valley, it’s a seller’s market.

And, Miller added, buyers are being more conservative with their house purchases. The last time the housing market did this, in 2005-06, people were more inclined to borrow more money, sometimes right up to what they were approved for, to purchase a house.

“I think people are more aware from what happened last time and trying not to overspend,” Miller said. “I see a lot more people implementing their own spending caps.”

WHY KUNA?

One of Kuna’s attractions for potential house buyers is the possibility of owning more land. Miller said the company constantly gets calls about houses on half-acre or 1-acre parcels.

“That’s one of the top calls we get,” Miller said. “They’re very in-demand, in my opinion. I think most, if given the choice, would prefer a larger lot.”

However, minds tend to change quickly when Miller tells prospective buyers the cost of the size of property they want.

For example, Miller said, a 1-acre lot with a house on it in the northern part of Kuna could cost $400,000-$700,000.

Some residents have asked developers to create more low-density residential subdivisions with larger lots, but some developers agree that not many people will buy a house on a half-acre or acre lot.

“The largest obstacle … is price,” Miller said. “The demand is there, but the affordability isn’t.”

Despite that, the possibility of a more affordable house is another of Kuna’s draws.

Ada County’s median new construction house price is about $349,000. Kuna’s is about $252,000, according to statistics provided by Miller. That’s about $10,000 more than it was in 2017.

Ada County’s median existing house price is about $287,000. Kuna’s is $238,750. That’s almost $39,000 more than last year.

In Kuna, the average list price is $238,750; the average sale price is $259,774.

Miller added that houses priced closer to $200,000 are more likely to receive multiple offers and sell above asking price.

How does Kuna’s housing market compare across the Treasure Valley?

Similar to other Ada County cities, Miller is seeing available inventory decreases and sale prices climb.

“There is a shortage in the entire valley, Kuna too,” Miller said.

However, he is also seeing some interesting things happen in Kuna’s housing market.

Miller is a born-and-raised Kuna resident, so he remembers when Kuna’s population was below double-digits. Now, Kuna’s population has exceeded 20,000, according to COMPASS.

Miller said despite Kuna’s explosive growth, he still considers Kuna to have its small-town, rural-community feel.

Others, he said, disagree to the point they are selling their houses because Kuna is getting too big.

“I’ve heard that a few times in the last month,” Miller said.

As Miller is helping some leave Kuna once their house has sold, he’s also assisting others in coming into the community.

Some people are permanently moving into what were once rental homes. And there’s also a shortage of rentals in Kuna.

“The rental market is almost non-existent in Kuna,” Garrison said.

Miller said that right now, a lot of people are selling rentals because the price of homes has gone up so much.

“Which is adding to the shortage of rentals (in Kuna),” Miller added.

Miller also said that despite some rentals now being part of the for sale housing market, the inventory is still not very balanced.

Another trend Miller is seeing is that despite the seller’s market, some are still concerned about putting their house up for sale.

“(Some) people are afraid to list their homes,” Miller said, “because they fear they will be unable to buy something else. This certainly adds to the problem of a lack of inventory.”

Alx Stevens is the reporter for Kuna Melba News. Contact her at 208-922-3008 or editor@kunamelba.com.