McCall home prices surge from pandemic, wealthy Boiseans, ‘corrupt’ California leaders

Affluent new Boise-area residents seeking second homes. Refugees from California. People who can now work remotely.

All are contributing to a boom in house and land sales in the scenic McCall area, including New Meadows, Donnelly and Cascade.

Sales of homes and lots in 2020 reached levels not seen since the real estate boom of the 2000s, according to local Realtors and sales reports.

“Everyone wants a slice of paradise,” said Will Minshall, associate broker with The McCall Real Estate Co. “Buyers are looking for places with less people.”

Home sales increased 23% in 2020 over 2019, with sales of lots and acreages soaring to a 61% gain, according to figures compiled by the Mountain Central Association of Realtors. The figures include sales in Valley County and the New Meadows area in Adams County.

The big source: Boise buyers

“Boise has been growing for the past few years, and Idaho’s economy remains strong; people want out of the larger cities,” said Marletta Romero of Silvercreek Realty/Dream McCall.

The McCall area had the most homes sold at 369, a 26% increase over 2019. The Donnelly area, which includes Tamarack Resort, reported 86 homes sold, up 23%. The New Meadows area saw 62 homes sold, a 22% hike. The Cascade area had 76 homes sold, a 10% increase.

“The buyers are Idaho people wanting a place to camp or Boise people buying a second home,” said Carol Amburgy of Silvercreek Realty/The Donnelly Group.

Mike Maciaszek, a broker for Real Estate of McCall, said about two-thirds of the buyers that used his company in 2020 were from the Boise area, with the rest from California, Washington and Oregon.

“A number of buyers who recently moved to the Treasure Valley have found or are looking for a second home in McCall,” said Maciaszek, who is also a member of the McCall City Council. “There’s no doubt the migration from larger western cities to the Boise area has also impacted McCall.”

Homes sell before they’re listed

Buyers have few options because homes are sold as soon as they are listed or are sold even before they are listed, said Realtors in an informal survey by The Star-News.

The lack of homes available for sale drove the median price of a home sold in McCall from $406,000 in 2019 to $455,000 last year.

“If you’re a home buyer shopping in McCall today, you have a whopping selection of two houses, one for $899,900 and the other for $860,000,” said Bob Crawford, broker of Crawford Olson Real Estate Services in McCall

“Multiple offers are now the norm; I can think of four cases where 12 offers were received,” Crawford said.

A lakefront home on Payette Lake that sold for $2.3 million a few years ago recently sold for $3.3 million, he said.

The New Meadows area saw the largest increase, with the median price of a home sold rising to $416,000 in 2020 from $295,000 in 2019. The median in the Donnelly/Tamarack area rose to $355,000 from $322,000, and in Cascade to $290,000 from $267,000.

Sellers who might not otherwise consider giving up their homes in the area are motivated by the large amounts of money being offered, Minshall said.

“They think the market will crash and are trying to lock in their profits,” he said.

Sellers surveyed by Minshall also said they either can no longer tolerate the area’s winter weather, or their children have chosen not to inherit their property. Medical problems requiring relocation to a city with better medical facilities also influence sellers, he said.

$325-per-square-foot building costs

Sales of bare ground in the McCall area more than doubled in one year, to 346 lots from 167 in 2019.

“I think that many who purchase lots, while some intend to build within a couple years, are either trying to just have a foothold for a possible future home here, or many are also speculating that prices will go up and are holding those lots for investment,” Maciaszek said.

Those who intend to build homes on their lots must contend with high building costs, he said.

Building costs for an average home are generally quoted by builders at not less than $325 per square foot, which adds up to $812,500 for a typical 2,500 square-foot home, Maciaszek said.

Pandemic boosts Zoom workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in “a new workplace reality,” said Jim Boley, an associate broker with The McCall Real Estate Co..

“Both employers and employees have seen that most tasking can be accomplished from remote work stations,” he said.

“Zoom workers can carry their salary with them to more affordable areas of the country,” said Will Minshall, associate broker at The McCall Real Estate Co. “Virtual schooling is more standardized and incorporated.”

Current second-home owners who can now spend more time working from home as a result of COVID-19 are looking for larger homes, said Verna Vanis, an owner at Crawford Olson Real Estate. She said a new trend is people selling their primary residence in their city of employment “and making our area the primary residence, while keeping a small place in their former home.”

Regulations, unrest drive migration

The natural beauty of the mountainous and forested area and its sparse population have always been a draw for property seekers, but political unrest has added to the interest.

“I literally receive a call from either California, Oregon or Washington every three or four days saying they’re leaving their state and heading to Idaho to get away from the politics, regulations, and taxes of their state,” said Mike Olson, owner and associate broker for Crawford Olson Real Estate Services.

“There have been an increasingly greater number of people who are seriously concerned over the higher threats seen in heavily populated areas,” Boley said.

Garth and Julie Krieger have been looking for more than six years to buy property in Idaho.

“It’s been a long-time coming, seeing what’s happening to this country,” said Garth Krieger, who is a financial adviser in Escondido, California, about 30 miles north of San Diego.

The Kriegers bought a 500-acre ranch near New Meadows last fall. They plan to start building a home in the spring and graze cattle in the future, said Krieger, 46.

The decision to move to Idaho was made because the state is “somewhat free” and close to the couple’s family, Krieger said.

“Hopefully, I can get enough good years in before the disease takes over every state — and I don’t mean COVID-19,” he said.

‘Corrupt’ California leaders create ‘undesirable residents’

California no longer has respect for law enforcement, said Dawn Boggs-Fatten, 48, a police collision investigator who lives in Riverside, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Boggs-Fatten, 48, and her husband, Rick, 54, a power plant environmental health and safety manager, recently bought five acres of land in New Meadows and plan to build a home when she retires in seven years.

“We have several friends and coworkers who have retired in Idaho,” she said. “All of them rave that the life style is relaxed, respectful and friendly.”

The couple chose New Meadows because they secured more land for the purchase price than they could in McCall and because limits on land use in McCall are stricter than in Meadows Valley, Boggs-Fatten said.

Political leaders in California are “corrupt,” she said. “Their failure to uphold the laws and stand behind their law enforcement has created a new breed of undesirable residents that we no longer want to be part of,” she said.

A slower pace of life and political uncertainty led Colleen Purkis and Bob Ridenour to decide to leave California and buy a lot in New Meadows.

“The people up here are awesome; they are so friendly, said Purkis, 60, who is retired along with her husband, 65. “And just look around — it is beautiful here.”

The couple, who lived in Temecula, California, about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles, are building their “forever home” on the lot.

This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 4:00 AM.