-January 1,2020-
from Idaho newspaper
BOISE — For people moving from California to the Treasure Valley, the high prices might be surprising.
No, not the cost of housing. Compared to what they receive for their California houses — where the median sales price exceeds $700,000 — Ada County’s record November median sales price of $425,000 still seems like a bargain.
It’s the high cost of renting a truck from U-Haul or another company, if you chose to move yourself, that would lighten your wallet. A family driving a rental truck from Los Angeles to Boise pays more four times as much as someone moving from Boise to Los Angeles, for instance.
A 15-foot truck, which U-Haul International says can accommodate belongings from a one-bedroom home or a two-bedroom apartment, would cost $2,384 for a move from Los Angeles to Boise. The rental includes five days of use of the truck and 1,054 miles.
The same rental for a family traveling in the opposite direction would cost only $561.
A 20-foot truck, with room for possessions from a two-bedroom house or three-bedroom apartment, is renting for $3,576 from the L.A. area to Boise. The same truck from Boise to L.A. would be only $617.
“Leaving California is getting expensive due to high demand and a shortage of available trucks,” Mark Perry, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, tweeted last fall. “Moving to California is getting really cheap due to low demand and a surplus of available trucks.”