New Analysis Challenges Boise’s Housing Affordability Narrative

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

14 Nov 2025

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While headlines focus on rising home prices and the struggle for local buyers, veteran real estate professional Elizabeth Hume offers a different perspective on Boise’s housing market. The Broker Associate at One Sotheby’s International Realty argues that lifestyle spending, rather than just home prices, is a major factor limiting homeownership for many first-time buyers.

“Yes and no, I think if you’re serious and you want to buy a house, if there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Hume, who has worked through 20 years of market cycles in Idaho. Her view challenges the common belief that out-of-state buyers have made it impossible for locals to own homes.

Boise has seen significant price increases in recent years. Hume recalls a specific property she saw as a young, first-time buyer. “I was showing a property the other day, and I looked at it 23 or 24 years ago, when I was a first-time home buyer. It was $59,000 and now it’s listed for $275,000,” she said.

Yet Hume contends that focusing only on income and home prices overlooks how modern spending habits affect affordability.

Hume points out that today’s buyers face expenses previous generations did not. “We spend more now – on DoorDash, eating out, all of those things,” she said. “If we didn’t spend on those things, and we cooked at home like our grandmas did, bought groceries, and paid attention to what we were spending, we’d have more left over. People now have 25 different streaming services and buy coffee out every morning.”

She compares this to her own childhood. “When we were kids, we didn’t have cable until my parents were older. We had rabbit ears on the TV. The expenses families have now are different than they were back then.”

Modern conveniences, she argues, have created ongoing monthly costs that add up quickly. “My kids have expenses my grandparents would have been shocked by – their own car, their own TV, all the things we take for granted now.”

Despite higher prices, Hume notes that there are programs in place to help local buyers. “Idaho has the Idaho Housing program, and they’re teaching people how to be first-time home buyers. There are a lot of first-time home buyer programs,” she said.

However, the competition remains tough, especially against out-of-state buyers with large cash reserves from selling homes in pricier markets. “If you’ve grown up here your whole life, the people coming from out of state are selling a house in a market that’s inflated. So they have a large amount of cash, and their markets operated differently,” Hume explained.

Still, she maintains that determined buyers can succeed if they reconsider their spending. “If we could go back and limit those expenses –not get rid of them, but limit them– you probably would see more people able to buy homes. We don’t have to have Starbucks every morning.”

For those serious about buying a home, Hume stresses the importance of working with a real estate professional. “If you want to buy, there’s a way to buy. If you talk to a realtor, we’ll get you in a house if that’s what you want,” she said.

Hume’s perspective suggests that the affordability issue is not just about high prices, but also about how people manage their finances and set priorities. While she acknowledges that “wages have gone up a little bit” but “not that much,” she believes many buyers have more influence over their ability to buy a home than they realize.

Her view challenges both buyers and industry professionals to look beyond headlines and examine the full financial picture when considering homeownership.

Elizabeth Hume is a Broker Associate at One Sotheby’s International Realty with 20 years of experience in Idaho real estate. She has served as Boise Regional Realtors president and Real Estate Commissioner, giving her broad insight into market trends and buyer behavior in the region.