Home prices soared in many cities in the U.S.’s sunnier coastal spots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, while pervasive, America’s new-home affordability crisis has been anything but even-handed in spreading the pain and challenge to new homebuilders and residential developers.

According to a just-released Urban Land Institute index, Mountain West cities led all regions in percentage increases in buyers’ prices for new homes.

The Boise, Idaho, metropolitan area topped the list with a 73.13% change in the cost of owning a new home between 2019 and 2023, the most recent data on the

Image courtesy of ULI RCLCO Terwilliger Center for Housing

Hendry County east of Ft. Myers was in the top 10 for change by county, with nearly 79%. Idaho, Montana, and Utah counties took most of the Top 25, with a handful of Tennessee counties appearing. Southern counties began appearing more frequently among the next 25.  

The magnitude of the difference between southern and Mountain West cities appears in the index’s cost-to-rent data. Bozeman led with a 46.55% change, with Boise second at 44.36%. Cape Coral/Ft. Myers was the only Florida metro in the Top 10, with a 38.39% change. Orlando was the next Florida metro in the ranking, at 37.11%. Several Florida cities were above 30%, and Miami was below that. Apartment construction boomed in those years to the point of oversupply now.

Florida cities drew headlines because of affordability. Voters in Orange County, which includes Orlando, approved rent control in 2022. Court battles erupted, ending in the county’s defeat in 2023. Florida passed a law that year blocking local governments from considering rent controls or rent stabilization.

Boise sought to address affordability by passing an ordinance in 2023 to loosen zoning rules on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The ordinance allowed ADUs up to 900 square feet and eliminated the parking requirement. Applications for ADUs have boomed.

Montana passed a law in 2023 to allow duplexes to be built in single-family areas and ADUS. The law faced a legal challenge, but last September, the state’s top court overturned a lower court ruling, allowing what’s been dubbed the “Montana Miracle” to move forward.