Like we didn’t already know this.  Buying a house in Idaho requires a large mortgage, firstborn children, and a winning lottery ticket.  You may also be required to offer an option on your internal organs for transplants.  I stumbled across a story from AXIOS, which probably stumbled over the data.  Idaho has the nation’s most overvalued real estate markets.  The top three and four of the top six.

It's not at all a surprise that Boise and Coeur d’Alene are the top two and in that order.  Idaho Falls is third.  It’s not a complete surprise, however.  I figured it would vie with similar-sized cities like Twin Falls (which didn’t make the top 10 and if you’re buying here you can exhale a bit).  Pocatello is number six.

Here’s the rub.  I was speaking with a business lobbyist this week and was told once many of the buyers get settled they then turn to complaints.  The weather is too cold or icy or snowy.  They whine they don’t have enough choices for dining out and retail shopping.  Excuse me, how many stores do you need?  What they mean is they can’t find a Whole Foods.  As if the green peppers at WinCo were somehow an inferior species!

My hometown has two traffic lights and maybe four restaurants.  Three have been there a long time and the fourth comes and goes.  One is a McDonald’s.  Another is a diner and does a great breakfast business.  The third steady place serves great steaks and another American fare.  In other words, you won’t starve!

While I also like the variety I can only eat at one restaurant at a time.  If you don’t like it, you can abandon your property here and return to crime-free Portland.  It wouldn’t just deflate the housing market.  It would restore sanity to property taxes.