Ada County hit another record low for inventory in December 2017, with just 1,391 homes for sale — a 6.6% drop from December 2016. While we’ve discussed the lack of inventory at length in our previous market reports, a new twist on the inventory shortage showed up in the December 2017 numbers…

There were 317 more new homes for sale in Ada County in December 2017 than existing homes. The actual numbers reported for Ada County were 854 new homes, compared to 537 existing homes on the market in December 2017.

Looking back at the year, there were five months that this happened, but December 2017 had the largest spread. (We saw this once in December 2016, but never before then in our ten-year data set.)

As reported by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), we need builders to bring more product online to pull us out of our local – and nationwide – inventory shortage, so an increase in new construction is welcomed.

But some question if this strategy could lead to another wave of overbuilding like we saw in the mid-2000s. At that time, new construction was more speculative, which led to more new houses than there was demand. Today’s new construction inventory levels are much more in line with buyer demand for new homes, which has increased with the Boise region’s population growth.

The Months Supply of Inventory figures for new construction in Ada County over the past 4-5 years indicate a general balance between supply and buyer demand. In December 2017, the months supply of new homes was at 4.1 months. A balanced market—not favoring buyers or sellers—is typically between 4-6 months of supply.

That’s a good starting point for builders, as they’re not too far behind demand right now. Although, we did see the months supply of new homes dip below 4.0 months last summer, so the more product that can get started now, the better.

A mix of price points among newly constructed homes will also be necessary, but that’s proved difficult with the rising cost of land, labor, and materials. This was evident in December 2017, as Ada County’s median sales price for new homes saw a record high of $361,030, up 13.5% from December 2016. (In comparison, the median sales price of existing homes in Ada County was at $254,250 in December 2017.)

Additional information about trends within Ada County as well as Canyon County, by price point, by existing and new construction, and by neighborhood, are now available in the December 2017 Market Report. This includes an explanation of the metrics and notes on data sources and methodology.

Download the latest market snapshot graphics for Ada County, Canyon County, and Gem County: