Property values in Idaho's most-populated county went up between 2013 and 2014 in a big way. This is the second year in a row Ada County's property values increased. Of course those increases are on the heels of four-straight years of decline after the housing bubble burst.
This chart shows the year-over-year changes in Ada County property values. It clearly shows the boom and the bust.
Despite the year-to-year shifts, the average Ada County home is now worth about the same as it was in 2006. This year’s average value is $211,186 up from $185,136 in 2013. That’s a 14 percent increase. If you use median home values instead, you get a 15 percent increase.
But Ada County assessor Bob McQuade thinks the number most relevant for homeowners is 18 percent. That’s the average change in home values.
Of the more than 130,000 “improved properties” (homes) in the county, about 127,000 went up in value. Some increased a little, some a lot. Take all those increases and add in the 2,000 or so homes that lost value, and the handful that didn’t change, and you get an average increase of 18 percent.
Using the same method, you see average increases of 25 percent before the bubble burst. McQuade says those numbers highlight just how abnormal these changes are. McQuade is not saying Ada County is heading for another housing bubble now, but he says big increases like this year and last are not sustainable long term, and can be warning signs of a bubble.
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