Kootenai County Home Sales Climb

Kootenai County home sales showed some vitality in April after three slower months.

Sales rose just 3 percent compared to April 1994, according to the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service.

But the first three months of the year were about 12 percent lower than 1994’s record home-selling pace, so April’s numbers are somewhat surprising.

“The market’s still showing good strength,” said Bill Robinette, owner of Select Properties Co. in Hayden Lake. “Property will still appreciate, but just at a more moderate pace.”

Nearly twice as many homes changed hands in Dalton/ Hayden last month compared with April 1994.

Homes continued to sit on the market in Post Falls compared to the going-like-hot-cakes selling pace of last year. Realtors there have blamed an excess of high-priced homes for the slowdown.

The average price of a home sold in Kootenai County during April increased just 2 percent from the same month last year. Home prices in Post Falls actually fell about 7 percent from a year ago.

The multiple listing numbers suggest that less expensive homes are selling better. For the year, the average price of a home sold in Kootenai County has actually dropped 1 percent, to $111,237.

That’s the first time the average home price for the current year has fallen below what homes sold for the previous year since the housing boom began in 1989.

“Prices are beginning to moderate some,” Robinette said. “The market is beginning to mature.”

There are bargains to be had, Marshall Mend of Marshall Mend Realty said, especially in the more expensive homes.

“Right now you can make some deals on the homes over $200,000,” Mend said.