Home prices in Boise and Idaho overall are on a tear. Tops in the nation

A home for sale in east Boise. Home prices increased 11.1% in Boise over the 12 months ending in September, the fastest rate in the nation, according to the Federal Housing Financing Agency. File photo

It’s official: Home prices in Boise rose at a faster rate than in any other of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. over the 12 months ending in September, a federal agency reported Tuesday.

Home prices increased 11.1%, according the to the Federal Housing Financing Agency.

And it wasn’t just Boise. Idaho topped the 50 states and the District of Columbia with an increase of 11.6%. Arizona and Maine were next at 7.9%, following by Utah at 7.8%.

The Mountain region, one of nine divisions used by the U.S. Census Bureau, registered the largest regional increase in home values at 6.9%, the report said.

Boise’s increase edged out Tuscon, Arizona (10.3%), Honolulu (9.9%), and Grand Rapids, Michigan (9%).

“It’s not surprising that we have the highest appreciation, because we’ve been quoting a 12% increase,” said Rick Gehrke, a real estate agent with RE/Max Executives in Nampa who sells in both Ada and Canyon counties. “There’s places in North Boise higher than 12%.”

The median price of 999 homes sold in Ada County in October was $352,000, according to a report from Boise Regional Realtors. That was up $2,000 from September, but $3,000 less than the record-setting $355,000 in August.

In Canyon County, the median price of 530 homes sold in October was $254,900. That tied a record set in August.

“Buyers are coming from everywhere, I can tell you that,” Gehrke said. “A lot of people are coming from California, a lot from Nevada, surprisingly.”

Boise continues to get positive press around the country. One of the latest examples is a writer’s account in Business Insider of her four-day visit to downtown.

“Coming from New York City, I can certainly see the appeal of Boise: It’s a manageable size, yet it has everything you need,” Katie Warren wrote. “And I don’t think I’ve ever visited another city where the residents — perhaps partly because many of them came from big cities like Los Angeles and Seattle — are so unabashedly delighted to live there.”