By Julie Miller

Aug 4, 2021

Home prices notched their biggest annual growth since 1979 in June, during an extra-hot summer for real estate, fueled by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nationally, sale prices shot up 17.2% in June compared with a year ago, according to a recent report from real estate data provider CoreLogic. They rose 2.3% from May.

“When you start hitting historic highs, you wonder how long this is going to go,” says Selma Hepp, CoreLogic’s deputy chief economist. She estimates that home prices have likely peaked and will grow more slowly for the rest of the year. “Home prices have gotten out of reach for a lot of people.” While it’s still a seller’s market, that doesn’t mean buyers should sit it out.

“Interest rates are still low, and home prices will still keep going up even if they level out,” Hepp says. Appreciation of single-family, detached homes, like those typical in the suburbs, rose 19.1% in June. That’s almost double the 10.7% rise in attached properties, such as townhomes and row houses.

The increase makes sense as buyers have sought out more square footage, outdoor space, and locations where they could socially distance during the pandemic. Buyers have been competing over the limited supply of these detached, single-family homes, which typically offer all of these things, bringing prices up to previously unheard of levels.

Where are home prices rising the fastest?

Prices continue to rise the fastest in the western part of the country, with year-over-year growth in June reaching 34.2% in Idaho, 26.1% in Arizona, and 24.3% in Montana. “These places are affordable,” Hepp says, adding that the Rocky Mountain states “have been particularly of interest to people who are now able to work from home and looking for outdoor amenities.”

Twin Falls, ID, about two hours southeast of Boise, had the highest year-over-year increase of any locality, at 40.2%. The median list price in Twin Falls was $367,550 in June, according to the most recent Realtor.com® data. Bend, OR, with a median list price of $737,500, came in second, at 35.4%.

“What I hear from out-of-state clients is, they are looking for a better way of life and a place to raise their families,” says Nicole Gabiola, owner of Keller Williams Sun Valley. And many who are priced out of Boise, where the median list price was $513,050, “are coming our way.”

Local agents say the housing market in Twin Falls has been growing for years and is still hot. But they expect it to start slowing. There were just 30 houses for sale in the spring, says Stan Tobiason, a Realtor® with Super Realty of Idaho. Now there are about 130. “Prices are still crazy, but people have a few more houses to choose from,” he says.

by Anna & Michelle – Luxury In Sun Valley Team

Wild spaces, happy places, and a place to call home are all essential to protecting our way of life here in the Wood River Valley. The balance of conservation and development is a tricky one, but is an area the Wood River Land Trust is familiar with. Quigley Canyon in Hailey was once slated to become a sprawling suburban development until the Wood River Land Trust worked with the developer to condense development – ensuring that homes would still be built to accommodate the growing population while also preserving the majority of the property for future generations.

And now we can add another success story! The Wood River Land Trust has worked with Blaine County and Anna Mathieu, a real estate broker with Windermere Real Estate SV to introduce Gerardo Perez Cano and Marlene Grimaldo to a brand new program within Blaine County.

This new program utilizes a technique called a “transfer of development rights (TDR)”.  A transfer of development rights is a zoning tool used to permanently protect land with conservation value (such as farmland, critical habitat, or other natural or cultural resources) by redirecting development that could occur on this land to another area better planned to accommodate growth and development. Through this program, Perez and Grimaldo were able to transfer the development potential of the Wood River Land Trust’s Church Farm Property (located out by Timmerman Junction) onto their 16-acre parcel of land. Gerardo and Marlene are now able to subdivide their 2 lots into 4 4-acre lots, which will allow them to build houses for their children.

Marlene and Gerardo elaborate on their experience with this new program: “Anna really helped us with the whole process. From understanding and evaluating the TDR opportunity, to working with the Land Trust to hunt down TDRs, through working with the county and Galena Engineering to make sure we understood the process, and finally, in securing the various property rights needed, we couldn’t have done it without her help.”

Blaine County has implemented this TDR program with a goal of increasing density close to town while keeping the land in the Bellevue triangle as open space. This recent use of TDR’s in Gerardo and Marlene’s case has ensured that 40 acres of land in the Bellevue Triangle is under permanent protection. In addition to other conservation tools, the sale of these development rights has enabled the Wood River Land Trust to permanently protect its 131-acre Church Farm Property, which is also enrolled into a federal Wetlands Reserve Program conservation easement.

The Wood River Valley is growing and the need for more housing is urgent, and yet we also need to be thinking about smart growth, intentional development, and protecting the critical places that make our home unique.

For 25 years, the Wood River Land Trust has worked diligently to protect the land, water, wildlife and recreational opportunities that make the Wood River Valley a place where you can connect…or disconnect. Our mission is to protect and sustain the treasured landscapes and life-giving waters of the Wood River Valley and inspire love for this special place for generations to come. For more information please visit woodriverlandtrust.org or call our offices at 208.788.3947

Please see the article in the Idaho Mountain Express

Interested in selling a TDR and putting a conservation easement on your property? Want to add density to your property through the purchase of a TDR? – Call Anna or Michelle!

Businesses in the town, near the Sun Valley ski resort, can’t fill openings as applicants are unable find a place to live; mayor proposed letting workers pitch tents in a park.

KETCHUM, Idaho—Ethan McKee-Bakos has had no trouble finding work since he moved to this upscale mountain town last February, earning $60,000 a year from two jobs. But Mr. McKee-Bakos spent nearly six weeks living out of his SUV in the nearby Sawtooth National Forest, unable to afford rent for a condo.

“If you live in Ketchum, there’s no shortage of work. There’s just a shortage of where you can live,” said Mr. McKee-Bakos, who works as a supply manager at a local hospital and a bouncer at a bar. “This is the first time I’ve experienced any type of homelessness.”

Like many towns in the West with economies built around tourism, Ketchum is facing a cascading housing crisis caused by a rush of new residents during the Covid-19 pandemic, growing demand for workers during the economic boom that has followed, and a shortage of affordable homes that was years in the making.

Businesses in this community of 2,700, located in central Idaho near the Sun Valley ski resort, are struggling to fill open positions, forcing some to cut hours. Some workers live in trailers or tents in the Sawtooth National Forest. And the waiting list for the 113 affordable-housing units for sale or rent in surrounding Blaine County is years long.

Full Article Here

With all the talk of a tent city springing up in Ketchum, the canvas tents that popped up in the Upper River Run parking lot and an empty lot at the base of Bald Mountain Monday might have given passersby a start.

• Are city fathers renting out tents to workers this summer?
• Is it just a way to determine what a tent city in the shadow of a world-class ski mountain would look like?
• Or are hotels so full proprietors are going to offer tent lodging for tourists, complete with the foot-thick mattresses and comforters in each?

Actually, the tent city is part of 29029 everesting, a monumental challenge designed for those who believe challenging things change us.

The four-day event is expected to bring more than a hundred competitors and their families to Sun Valley from Thursday through Monday, June 17-21.

Competitors will leave base camp at 5,750 feet and race up the mountain about 15 times to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest which, at 29,029 feet, is the world’s tallest mountain. They will ride the gondola down after each summit.

Participants have all sorts of reasons for taking part. One woman told everesting that her husband passed away in January after being diagnosed with ALS. She signed up to give her something to focus on to work through the grief.

Another woman said she is doing it to prove that she is stronger and more fit—and to have fun. A man said he was attempting to be the best he can be for the rest of his life after his father’s death by heart attack shook him to his core.

And a woman who will be coming to Sun Valley from Atlanta is doing it as part of a pandemic health plan that included losing 45 pounds and reducing her elevated blood pressure.

Additional 29029 events have been held in Vermont and Snowbasin, Utah. Split evenly between men and women, the average age of past events is well over 40, according to Bloomberg.

Many participants are entrepreneurs or corporate managers for companies like Goldman Sachs and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. While some have a few marathons behind them, for most this is a new frontier.

There are a lot of fantastic resorts scattered across the country, each with their own beautiful locations, lavish amenities, and – of course – incredible skiing. But few people know that America’s first ski destination resort is right here in Idaho – and it has quite the history buried beneath its picturesque surface. Fortunately, even for those who aren’t powder hounds or craving runs down a mountain, the Sun Valley Resort boasts endless things to do year-round, and in perfect mountain luxury.

Full Story Here

This New Year’s Eve, enjoy a simple celebration at home.

With big parties out of the question (really, please don’t) it’s time to celebrate the end of 2020 the way we’ve marked most major occasions this year: at home.

That doesn’t mean you have to pack it in and put yourself to bed before midnight, unless a good night’s sleep is what you’ve been looking forward to all year. That’s a valid choice. Even if the night feels different than New Year’s Eve celebrations of the past, you can still make the evening special — and pace yourself — without hitting the town.

Clean now, reward yourself later!

First things first: If you’ve been putting off any housecleaning over the holidays, give the house a good once-over to get it ready for 2021.

Keep yourself in check!

The impulse to have a drink, or two or three, is ingrained in Western New Year’s culture. But it doesn’t have to be a night of tequila shots and Champagne popping.

Make dinner an affair to remember!

With winter’s first major snowstorms already sweeping across the country, outdoor dining could be dicey in your neck of the woods. So keep the meal inside and make dinner an intimate event.

Cue up a classic New Year’s movie!

As the credits roll, make a toast to making it through 2020 in one piece and call it a night.

Sun Valley to begin operation of new lift this weekend!

Traditional Thanksgiving opening scheduled for 85th season

Back in March, major cities like New York City and San Francisco saw an outflux of residents leaving the pandemic-riddled mega metropolises for more cozy and quiet places offered by smaller cities and the suburbs. Some temporarily moved in with families while others left and claimed they will never turn back. Regardless of where they ended up, there was a consistent reason why: living in a highly populated, dense city is not conducive to a world that revolves around social-distancing protocols and shelter-in-place mandates.

City living already features a cramped lifestyle filled with too-close-for-comfort subway rides, overpriced lofts, and underappreciated parks that are sparse and hard to visit. Residents are willing to put up with higher crime rates in exchange for more intriguing and exciting activities, like the spectacular nightlife, unbelievable restaurants, and diverse culture scene. Take those enterprises away and you create a stagnant claustrophobic environment that limits you to the entrance of your stairwell. All things considered, it’s not really surprising why people want out.

FULL STORY HERE