Last fall, we released a paper tracking homebuying behavior through the pandemic and post-pandemic period. We found that, despite pandemic headwinds and a reduction in housing inventories, many types of homebuyers were able to purchase homes in a variety of community types. However, these trends were not uniform across the country. Today we’re releasing an interactive chart that accompanies the report, allowing anyone to dive into the differences in trends in different locations (i.e., by Federal Reserve Bank district, state, metro area, and county) and across different types of populations.
For example, users interested in learning more about homebuying trends in the Boise, Idaho metropolitan statistical area can explore the “boom and bust” trends Boise experienced pre- and post-pandemic.
Boise was featured in many news stories about pandemic homebuying which highlighted surging home prices and sparked conversations about the ability of locals to purchase homes.1 This interactive tool allows users to track how the pandemic and post-pandemic homebuying market played out in Boise. Boise experienced a large increase in homebuying activity in 2020 before a sharp contraction in 2021 that deepened into 2022.
Figure 1
Number of Home-Purchase Mortgage Loans in Boise, ID MSA
Looking within the Boise MSA, one can see that this trend was concentrated in the suburban parts of the metro area.
Figure 2
Number of Home-Purchase Mortgage Loans in Boise, ID MSA, by Metro Type
Younger buyers (<35) appear to have been the main source of this trend, with the largest increases in homebuying activity in 2020 and the largest contractions in 2021 and 2022 among the three age groups. The share of the oldest buyers (55+) participating in the market was smaller in 2020-2022 than before the pandemic.
Figure 3
Number of Home-Purchase Mortgage Loans in Boise, ID MSA, by Buyer Age
Turning to look at incomes, middle- and high-income buyers increased in parallel in 2020, but only high-income buyers continued their growth in 2021. Meanwhile, fewer low-to-moderate income (LMI) buyers bought homes in each subsequent year, starting in 2018. As a result, the share of Boise MSA buyers who were LMI dropped from 30% in 2018 to 17.6% in 2022.
Figure 4
Number of Home-Purchase Mortgage Loans in Boise, ID MSA, by Buyer Income
Figure 5
Share of Home-Purchase Mortgage Loans in Boise, ID MSA, by Buyer Income
Boise is just one example of the many trajectories that local housing markets experienced throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic period. Users can explore the tool to learn more about their local communities and how they compared to others.
End Notes
1. See, for example: Krutzig, Sally. Boise Is Now the Least Affordable Housing Market in the United States, This Study Says. Idaho Statesman, November 9, 2021.
Schwedelson, Paul. Know Anyone Who Needs a House for under $250K in Boise? Here’s What Little That Buys Now. Idaho Statesman, April 27, 2022.
Dougherty, Conor. The Californians Are Coming. So Is Their Housing Crisis. The New York Times, February 12, 2021, sec. Business.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the management of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.