Sell Your Commercial Property In Idaho

The Idaho rental market at a glance

Idaho had 198,644 renter households in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, or 27.9% of 713,005 occupied homes. Owners hold the other 72.1%. Only 8.9% of Idaho housing units, 70,531 in all, sit in buildings of five or more units.

Idaho rental vacancy stood at 3.9% in the 2020-2024 DP04 housing profile. Median gross rent of $1,238 equals about 19.1% of the $77,800 median household income. Even so, 46.9% of Idaho renter households paid 30% or more of income on rent, per table B25070.

Five-year trends in Idaho

Idaho median gross rent rose 45.1% between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 ACS periods, from $853 to $1,238 a month. Median household income grew 39.5%, from $55,785 to $77,800. Rents outran incomes by 5.6 percentage points.

Population climbed 12.6%, or 216,512 residents, while Idaho renter households grew only 4.9%, adding 9,352. Units in five-plus buildings rose 12.7%, adding 7,972. Idaho employment grew 16.0% over the same span.

Rent growth and income growth moved together more closely than the gap suggests. Idaho median household income rose from $55,785 to $77,800, which kept rent near 19.1% of a typical household's gross income. Idaho rents still gained 5.6 points more than incomes over the period.

Idaho county comparison

Median gross rent across the three Idaho counties with their own market pages runs from $1,347 in Canyon County to $1,577 in Ada County. Rental vacancy ranges from 3.9% in Canyon County to 4.9% in Kootenai County, per each county's 2020-2024 ACS figures.

Ada County leads on renter share, at 29.2%, and on larger buildings, at 11.7% of units. Only 4.9% of Canyon County units sit in buildings of five or more units, so multifamily stock there is scarce.

The three counties differ in building type. Kootenai County holds 10.7% of its units in buildings of five or more units and posted the highest vacancy of the group, at 4.9%. Ada County and Canyon County sit close together on vacancy, but their rents differ by $230 a month.

Idaho landlord, tax and transfer rules

Idaho Code Section 55-306 bars local governments from adopting or enforcing rules that set rent, fees or deposits on private residential leases. No Idaho city or county can cap rents on an apartment building.

Idaho sets no statutory cap on security deposits. Section 6-321(2) requires a refund within 21 days unless the lease fixes another time, and never later than 30 days after the tenant surrenders the unit. Section 55-208 requires at least one month of written notice to end a tenancy at will.

Idaho assesses rental property each year at market value as of January 1 under Idaho Code Section 63-205(1). County assessors set the value, and local taxing districts set the levies. A year of strong rent growth can therefore show up in the next assessment.

We found no statewide transfer tax in the Idaho State Tax Commission's property tax guidance. Your escrow officer should still confirm closing costs for the specific county before you sign.

What this means if you sell in Idaho

Owners who sell commercial property in Idaho are priced on rent rolls, vacancy and the next assessment. A building in Canyon County, at 3.9% vacancy and $1,347 median rent, reads differently to a buyer than one in Ada County at $1,577.

Because Idaho values rental property at market every January 1, we model the coming assessment, not just last year's tax bill. With rents up 45.1% in five years, buyers will test how far your current rents sit from market.

We review Idaho buildings of five or more units in Ada, Canyon and Kootenai counties and across the rest of Idaho. Send the rent roll and the latest Idaho tax statement, and we will set the property against these county figures.