Jittery home buyers want the election to be -2-

Having grown up in wine country in Sonoma County, Calif., the 39-year-old had moved to the pandemic boomtown in late 2020 and has been renting an accessory dwelling unit on a friend's property for $450 a month - a steal in Boise, where the average rent for a one-bedroom was $1,400 as of September, according to data from Apartments.com.

Renting for so far below the market rate has given Carlson the ability to wait until she feels more certain about the direction of the economy and the stability of the housing market.

To be sure, home prices in Boise have largely stabilized. After a period of intense growth, home prices were 1.5% lower in July than they were during the same period a year ago, Redfin said, with a median sale price of $505,000. Back in 2019, the median sale price was just $330,000.

Carlson believes that there is a correlation between who is in power in government and the economic strength of the U.S. "The policies of the last three-ish years have very much negatively impacted our economy," she said. "And the price of groceries, the price of gas, all of those things have skyrocketed. And that has to do to an extent with the health of our economy."

Carlson believes a new administration could create a better environment for real-estate investment. "I really just think unless the perfect opportunity comes to be, I'm just gonna sit in the back row and really wait to see how this election year shakes out, and look for opportunities in the beginning of 2025."

-Aarthi Swaminathan

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09-07-24 0942ET

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