BOISE AMONG WORST PLACES TO BUY A FORECLOSED HOME

Here's great article from the Idaho Business Review by Brad Iverson-Long
Published: February 5,2013


The Boise metro area is one of the worst places to buy a foreclosed home, according to national real estate data company RealtyTrac.

The data company based its finding on measures including the supply of foreclosed homes and the average savings of foreclosures. Local real estate agents say that distinction is a sign that the market is improving, though there are still good deals to be found.

“If we’re the worst foreclosure spot, then we should be rated as the best place and on the rise,” said Craig Zuber, president of Zuber Group Real Estate.

Zuber said the Boise market improved in 2012, with traditional home sales now making up most of the market, rather than foreclosures and distressed sales. That’s also leading to more construction of new homes in the area.

“If you’re in a distressed market, you don’t see sticks in the air,” Zuber said of the new construction apparent in the Treasure Valley. “We do.”

RealtyTrac’s 2012 metro foreclosure report said foreclosures make up nearly one in every six home sales. Foreclosure activity in the Boise area in 2012 was down 28 percent  from 2011 and down 55 percent from 2010. Foreclosures were up in a majority of the top 212 metro areas in the nation. Boise was seventh on RealtyTrac’s list of worst places to buy a foreclosure, behind Salt Lake City; Las Vegas; Ogden, Utah; and cities in Arkansas and Texas.

Boise ranked just 40th on foreclosure activity for all of 2012, based on the percentage of housing units with a foreclosure filing. For December, Canyon and Ada counties led the state in foreclosure activity, both in total number of foreclosures and as a ratio of foreclosures to total housing units.

Florida had eight metro areas in the top 20 nationally in foreclosure rates and places six cities among the 20 best places to buy a foreclosed home.

While the supply and discount of foreclosures may be low, Tim Bassett with West USA Realty in Garden City said foreclosures can still be good for homebuyers.

“A foreclosure property is still your best value, next to a short sale,” he said, though he acknowledged that there aren’t many to buy in the area right now. Bassett said the availability of foreclosure kept prices for conventional homes down, but now home prices are on the rise.

The low supply isn’t unique to foreclosed homes. The Ada County Association of Realtors reports that the inventory of all homes in its market area is at a 12-year low.


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