Ken's Real Estate Review

The median sales prices for homes in the Boise housing market hit another new record last month at $575,000. This is an increase of 4.5% from the previous month and 22.6% from the same month last year. This jump was primarily stimulated by price increases in new construction. New construction accounted for nearly 1/3 of all sales last month, and the median price came in at $606,050. This is an increase of 31.5% year-over-year, which is a lot, especially in comparison to the price of existing homes which was up 16.7%.

Though the housing market may see a slight tempering due to the recent increases in mortgage rates, inventory remains a primary factor in home prices. And, despite a marked 103.1% increase from last year in the number of homes for sale in our area, inventory is still not keeping up with demand. This is evidenced by homes only remaining on the market for an average of 20 days and selling an average of 100.8% of the list price.

I know housing market news can be encouraging to some while simultaneously being discouraging to others. No matter your goals, questions, or concerns regarding your future real estate decisions, I would love the opportunity to help you navigate them. If you are considering buying or selling, please give me a call so I can hear more about your specific situation, and we can work together toward a plan for how best to move forward.

Check out our event calendar HERE for the latest local happenings. Some events may change, so please make sure to check the website links for the most up to date information.

LEAP Housing Brings More Affordable Housing to the Treasure Valley
by Anna Azallion of Idaho News 6

A Boise man found his life upended when the pandemic hit. “COVID really was a hard reset for me,” Peter Manning said. Like it did for many people, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic left Manning unemployed. Since then he’s also found himself separated from a long-term relationship and in need of somewhere new to live. While trying to get out of the rental market and back into homeownership, Manning found LEAP Housing and Caritas Commons. This is LEAP Housing’s new affordable housing community. It’s actually so new, Leap Ave. doesn’t show up on Google Maps. Peter was the first to move into his new home at Caritas Commons, but with LEAP Housing’s plans to expand the current community and add other similar communities, he won’t be the last.

Affordable Housing Tools
“Our organization is rallying around creating 1000 housing opportunities by 2026,” Bart Cochran, the Executive Director and Founder of LEAP Housing, said. “We’re thinking about funding, we’re thinking about land access, and we’re thinking about how do we build and develop housing as rapidly as possible to be able to deliver to this target audience of households all the way up to 80% of area median income.”

Area Median Income is a metric used to determine eligibility for many affordable housing programs. In Ada County, 80% of Area Median Income translates to about $4,200 per year in housing cost for a one-person household. Leap housing started focusing on creating affordable housing in 2016. Now, they have six different affordable housing programs. “We provide everything from what we call the next step which is short-term immediate, transitional housing all the way up to long-term permanent homeownership and then we have a few programs in between,” Cochran said. These programs include rental housing and homes for sale that are part of the LEAP Housing Trust. This is a community land trust where residents own their homes, but LEAP owns the land, allowing the organization to ensure affordability if the current owner sells their home. LEAP says they’re trying to fill a need not met by other housing resources, something Manning says he’s extremely grateful for. “Being in a rental situation just creates a degree of uncertainty that being a homeowner–it doesn’t create the security that being a homeowner can bring” he said.

Watch THIS VIDEO with more information and images of Caritas Commons homes. Or, if you are in need of affordable housing, fill out the "Waitlist Questionnaire" HERE to be contacted about future affordable housing opportunities!

This was our second home purchase with Ken. Our experience the first time with Ken was nothing short of excellent. This time he exceeded excellence. The market here is insane, yet his negotiation tactics helped us win against a ton of other offers. Our results were not typical, and we wholeheartedly believe it was completely due to his expertise. Follow his lead, and your home buying/selling experience will be as good as it gets! ~ Caleb & Annie Mintz

Read more of my client testimonials HERE.

This weekend, millions of people around the world will be celebrating Jesus Christ’s death on a cross and resurrection from the dead. I believe that Christ died for my sin and that He rose on the third day--defeating death and hell and reconciling me, a sinner, to a relationship with a perfect God. You may share this belief. Or, maybe you don’t know what to believe. Either way, I'd like to encourage you to read the Biblical account of Christ's death and resurrection in Mark 15:21 - 16:20 (linked HERE). My desire in sharing this passage is to help you see why I have hope amidst this ever-darkening world. Yes, it seems to be getting crazier by the day, but Christ conquered death and desires a personal relationship with you. Your sins can be forgiven, and you can share in a personal relationship with Christ now and forever.
Maybe you have never read the Bible account. Maybe it is time. Lee Strobel was a skeptic and a Yale law school grad. He decided to see if there was any evidence for Jesus. He took two years and dove into a full-scale investigation. He wrote his findings in a book called The Case for Christ. I highly encourage you to read it. You might be surprised at what he unearthed. HERE is a link where you can find the book, and I've included a quote from Lee Strobel about his journey from being a skeptic to a believer below. If you want to talk more about the Bible passage, the book, or my personal experience with Jesus, let me know. I would love to share more with you. May God reveal himself to you this Easter!

"I considered myself an atheist. To me, there was far too much evidence that God was merely a product of wishful thinking, of ancient mythology, of primitive superstition. My wife Leslie stunned me in the autumn of 1979 by announcing that she had become a Christian, so I launched an all-out investigation into the facts surrounding the case for Christianity. Setting aside my self-interest and prejudices as best I could, I read books, interviewed experts, asked questions, analyzed history, explored archaeology, studied ancient literature, and for the first time in my life picked apart the Bible verse by verse. I plunged into the case with more vigor than with any story I had ever pursued. I applied the training I had received at Yale Law School as well as my experience as legal affairs editor of the Chicago Tribune. And over time the evidence of the world—of history, of science, of philosophy, of psychology—began to point toward the unthinkable." —Lee Strobel