The population of Boise Idaho is predicted to increase by up to twenty percent over the next decade. The housing market in Idaho is also poised to expand as construction projects begin on new homes, condominiums, and apartment buildings. Because housing prices have dropped nationwide, builders can charge less for land than they could in previous years, and this has resulted in more jobs being created by those building homes and other housing. But all of these new jobs aren`t directly creating residents. Population growth is being driven by the number of people who are relocating to the Boise area.
Geographic Information System (GIS) programs can be used by local officials to gather demographic data, such as age, race, and income level information. By looking at the relationships between these demographic factors and population growth, officials can predict where the population will likely be twenty years from now, and even more precisely. Demographers use GIS to examine relationships between geography and population growth because it allows them to look at populations as a whole, rather than looking at each individual neighborhood. This is better for two reasons.
First, it lets them see what kind of changes might be expected in certain neighborhoods over time. If a neighborhood is seeing a lot of growth, but the overall population is not, an agent may choose to move to a different neighborhood when the housing market turns down. In this way, they`ll be able to provide the client with the home they want, but they won`t have to pay as much money for it as they would if they had chosen a different neighborhood. Second, a good GIS program will allow a local official to see population trends in different locations without driving through neighborhoods. This allows people to focus on the homes that seem to have the best chance of being sold.
The second reason to invest in GIS is that it allows a housing market expert to take a look at housing trends. These patterns can help an official to accurately predict how many people will move to a given neighborhood, which neighborhoods will see more growth, and which neighborhoods are falling into or getting out of favor quickly. By taking an entire community into consideration, a housing salesperson can make better decisions about which homes to market to specific groups of people. For example, if a neighborhood is growing at an unusually fast rate, a housing salesperson might want to steer clear of selling a home to middle-aged families or students, which will typically have a lower interest rate.
It`s important to realize that population growth can happen in virtually any area. A small increase of 100 residents over a five-year period may not seem like much. However, when compared with the population growth rate of ten percent or more in some areas, it becomes clear that population growth isn`t being ignored. A real estate agent can use all the data available to him or her to properly assess a particular area and its prospects for growth.
Of course, a real estate agent can`t pick out one neighborhood and say, “That`s our neighborhood!” Real estate professionals need to be cognizant of the overall trends across the entire community. Areas with higher population growth rates may be an ideal location for new homeowners. In addition, there may be less supply of housing available, which can work in the homeowner`s favor when trying to sell a home in a downswell market. A housing salesperson in Boise will be well-versed in all the local real estate trends and demographics, which will allow him or her to better market a home to a certain demographic group.