Commercial Real Estate and Mortgage In Idaho
Article Summary: This article will help anyone looking for information pertaining to a commercial real estate and commercial lending in the State of Idaho.
While most people think of Idaho as "The Potato State", its
actual nickname is "The Gem State", for its abundance of gems and minerals.
Besides mining and agriculture, other important industries in Idaho include
timber, food processing, electronics manufacturing, chemical manufacturing,
nuclear energy research and tourism. The science and technology sector accounts
for over 25% of Idaho's economy. What does all this mean for the commercial
real estate market in Idaho? Growth.
The industrial market is hot and growing hotter in Boise thanks to the rapid
growth of the nuclear research sector and other high-tech/heavy
industrial sectors such as semi-conductor and microchip manufacturing. This
market is marked by new construction as there remain large tracts of raw, industrial
lands within Boise. Even though commercial property values have increased by
50% within the past several years, the market is still hungry for more new industrial
property. The office market is slow but growing, fueled by tenant demand rather
than investor interest.
The high tech employment is attracting well-educated and well-paid workers
to Idaho, so housing is also hot. Idaho's housing market has been able
to stay strong because demand is being fueled by an influx of residents (Idaho
is the third fastest growing state in the nation) rather than speculators and
because Idaho lenders did not dip much into the subprime market. Boise is already
moving ahead with trendy mixed used developments including condos, retail and
office space. Elsewhere, high density housing and master-planned communities
are the order of the day. Even so, developers in Idaho are making a conscious
effort not flood markets, and there is some concern about whether wages will
be able to keep up with housing costs. There is already a nascent need for affordable
housing.
Where people go, so too goes retail. The retail market is
also hot in Idaho. Particularly in the larger cities like Boise, Nampa and Coeur
d'Alene, retail development is bein spurred by big box retailers seeking to
expand into the Idaho market. Previous retail development had been small-scale
pads, and the low vacancy rates for these pads are not expected to be harmed
by the new, larger scale developments. Some of the cities, like Nampa, are already
talking about revitalizing their downtown areas. SO different to what's going
on in most urban markets, Nampa is trying to update and expand its downtown
rather than bring it back to life. Much of the development in the area is new
construction.
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