Rural areas aren’t immune to housing woes

At times, it can feel as though the oxygen around housing challenges is taken up by the Treasure Valley’s rapidly growing cities. While there is certainly a significant issue regarding supply, demand and lack of affordability in these areas, the vast majority of Idaho is rural and those residents are also feeling the pressure.

“We do get forgotten when you talk about housing and affordability — it’s a big issue around here,” said Dodd Snodgrass, executive director of the Clearwater Economic Development Association, which serves Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce counties.

Each community faces its own unique challenges when it comes to housing, but there are similar trends — lack of housing options, getting squeezed out by people moving in from more expensive areas, aging populations, and wages that have not kept pace with housing prices.

Idaho was the fastest-growing state from 2019 to 2020, but even without Ada, Canyon and Kootenai counties, it still would have tied Florida as the fourth-fastest-growing state in that time, according to a housing assessment report completed for the Clearwater Economic Development Association in 2022.

In Owyhee County, residents are directly feeling the impact of the nearby cities’ growth, according to County Commissioner Kelly Aberasturi.

Those who come from the cities are usually able to sell their homes for a high price, which squeezes the communities they move into.

“The biggest issue we have is with some of the people that live in Ada County or Canyon County, closer to the cities, that when they built their homes 10 years ago they were pretty much out there alone and they liked that,” Aberasturi said. “Well, now those houses are in the middle of housing projects and they’re very unhappy with that, so they’re trying to move to Owyhee County. And what is available out here, they’re driving the prices up.”

Many people in the county work in agriculture or for schools and other government positions, he said.

For renters, there aren’t many options and the available units are getting more expensive, too.

Around 15% of the residents live in poverty, he said. The median household income in 2021 was $54,669, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Aberasturi said the average one-bedroom apartment is about $1,060 a month.

For those who make below the median income, there aren’t many options for low-income renters and many of the existing ones are for seniors only.

There are some low-income options, as well as attempts to add housing in Homedale and Marsing, but Aberasturi said it’s difficult to make those projects attractive to developers unless there’s government money going into them.

In north central Idaho, wage growth was far outpaced by rising housing costs, according to the housing assessment report. In Clearwater County, there was virtually no income growth over the past 10 years while home values went up by 55% in that time, the report said. Latah County had stronger income growth at 39% but home prices went up 66%.

Sometimes the jobs are there, but the employers can’t attract new employees because of the lack of housing.

Snodgrass said that the city of Nezperce is considered an example of a well-planned city and doesn’t have issues as severe as in other areas, but one of its major employers still can’t find enough employees.

Snodgrass said that when speaking to Hillco Technologies, the company struggles to recruit new employees. Advanced Welding & Steel in Grangeville has similar troubles.

“It’s a real Catch-22, because you can’t take a job unless you’ve got a place to live if you’re coming from out of the area,” he said.

The 2022 housing assessment report also found that the region was “desperate” for rentals, both market rate and subsidized. Nez Perce County had little supply and the biggest need for it, the report said.

The ratio of total population to renter-occupied units is higher than the average in Idaho in Nez Perce, Lewis, Clearwater and Idaho counties, indicating an under-supply of rentals in these areas, the report said.

Another issue faced by many rural communities in the Gem State is an aging population. Snodgrass said areas such as the Camas Prairie are getting older. In some of these areas, housing doesn’t become available until the owner dies, he said.

Many seniors also choose to downsize their homes. At a recent Pacific Northwest economic summit in Boise, Washington state Lt. Gov. Denny Heck noted that when retirees downsize, they’re competing with first-time homebuyers for those smaller dwellings. Heck also noted that starter homes are becoming among the least profitable ventures for developers and so fewer are being built.

Sometimes the lack of availability is driving people further into remote areas than they would maybe prefer.

Snodgrass said some people in the north central counties are moving far away from their jobs to areas they can afford, meaning they have long commutes not only for work but for groceries and most other essential trips.

The 2022 housing assessment said that many households lack the income required to purchase a home in Lewiston and Moscow and thus are purchasing homes in much smaller communities such as Troy, Potlatch and Genesee.

Oftentimes, the rural character of these communities is considered one of their most valuable assets and the reason people want to live there. This means that officials have to grapple with how to address a lack of housing while preserving that character.

In Owyhee County, officials asked its citizens what their priorities were for land use, and “overwhelmingly” they wanted to protect the farmland, Aberasturi said.

Now, the county doesn’t issue building permits outside of multiple-use zones or impact areas of cities.

Aberasturi said he was initially against this concept, but saw the sprawl that happened elsewhere in the Treasure Valley and changed his mind.

“At one time, the Treasure Valley was the No. 1 seed-producing area in the world. We’re no longer that because we planted houses instead of plants in Canyon County and Ada County,” he said. “We’re trying to avoid that.”

The county encourages most of the growth to go in the handful of cities in the county.

This lack of availability makes it difficult for people to move within the county, such as those trying to upgrade to a bigger home or become first-time homeowners.

“We don’t have much more housing, so what is available is going to those that have a lot of money,” he said.

Rapidly increasing home values can mean those staying in their homes on fixed incomes can become increasingly burdened by rising property taxes. It also means it could be cost-prohibitive for locals to purchase homes.

Aberasturi has lived in the county for nearly his entire life. He bought his 6 acres and house for $80,000. Today it’s appraised at around $750,000, he said.

“It’s not worth 10 times that, but that’s what the values went up to,” Aberasturi said. “Who’s going to come over and buy my house on an income that’s in my area? Nobody.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.