Houses in Boone County retain their value better than they do in other areas, real estate agents say.
The universities and hospitals in Columbia help keep the area desirable for home buyers, said Ryan Cunningham, a real estate agent in Columbia.
In 2003, the average house in Boone County sold for $148,130, according to the Columbia Board of Realtors.
Since 2003, the average has increased each year. In 2007, an average Boone County home sold for $176,614.
The steady increase in selling price indicates that Boone County’s homes retain their value well, said Carol Van Gorp, CEO of the Columbia Board of Realtors. “We’re a more stable market.”
Van Gorp said a buyer who purchased a house today for $100,000 would likely collect $120,000 if it were sold in a few years. The stable market makes Boone County “a pretty safe bet” for buyers, she said.
Although Boone County homes usually gain some value over time, the area does not attract many investors looking to “flip,” said Van Gorp.
In other markets in Missouri and across the country, investors will “flip” a house by purchasing, improving and quickly selling it to maximize profit.
Boone County is different. “We’re generally selling primary residences,” Van Gorp said.
Susan Groshong, 50, owns a home in Columbia and said she has no intention of leaving the city. “We’ve lived [in our current home] since ‘99,” she said. “We bought the house from my husband’s parents who’d lived there since 1974.”
Groshong said Columbia is an appealing place to call home. “I like the size, I like the diversity, I like that we’re the liberal hotbed of Missouri.”
Cunningham said the apartment market in Boone County is less stable than the housing market. “You have a lot more fluctuation of people moving in town.” He said the variation is due to the large number of college students in Columbia. “Our population changes drastically in the summer.”
Cunningham said the large population of transient students also gives Columbia more renters than the average in Missouri. In addition, Columbia has a higher percentage of apartments than the Missouri average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.