Idaho is the second-least affordable housing market in the country, according to recent data from the National Association of Realtors.
Montana ranks as the only state ahead of Idaho in terms of housing affordability, with California, Hawaii and Oregon rounding out the bottom five.
The report’s methodology considers affordability as spending up to 30% of a household’s income on financing, property taxes and insurance. It also factors in a down payment of less than 20% of the home’s total purchase price and a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.
Households earning $100,000 each year, which is far above Idaho’s median of $74,000, can only afford to buy about 17% of all homes listed for sale.
In Boise, just 10% of all properties are considered affordable for households with a $100,000 annual income.
A household would need to earn a combined $150,000 annually to afford half of all properties on the market in Idaho.
Ali Rabe runs Jesse Tree, a housing nonprofit that helps people facing eviction. She said that’s not a surprise.
“We’ve seen rent costs increase by 40% in recent years and housing costs increase by about 50%. [We’ve] seen an increasing number of local families be priced out of the market,” Rabe said.
Evictions in the Treasure Valley, she said, are on pace to more than double since 2022.
So far this year, Jesse Tree has fielded more than 2,700 applications for emergency rent assistance or help in eviction court, spending about $1.1 million across their programs.
“I don’t see [the housing market] reversing back to where it was, but I do have hope it will cool off. We know a lot of new developments are coming online here,” Rabe said.
Idaho has some of the lowest wages in the country, which contributes to the affordability problem.
According to the National Association of Realtors, no states’ housing market is considered affordable. Iowa, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan come the closest to being classified as affordable.
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