Cda-Area Home Sales Increase 17%

Home buyers last month sought elbow room in Post Falls and shied from expensive waterfront property as Kootenai County home sales shot up 17 percent compared with the same month last year.

A total of 182 homes were purchased in the county in August, up from 156 for the same month last year, the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service said Wednesday.

The report marks the second consecutive month that home sales have improved from a year earlier, reversing an earlier trend that indicated Kootenai County’s hot real estate market was cooling.

“We expected a downturn this year, but the last month was good,” said Brian Stranger, president of the listing service and an Acuff Northwest Realtor. “We’re playing a little catch-up.”

Even with the summer rebound, Realtors will have to work hard to repeat last year’s sales volume. Total home sales through August were 1,257, down from 1,385 during the first eight months of 1994.

The average sale price in August was $107,311, down slightly from $107,911 in the same month last year.

Stagnant prices reflect a move away from high-priced waterfront property and greater sales of homes with one acre or more located outside congested urban areas.

Only 15 shoreline homes were sold last month, compared with 21 in August 1994, while buyers snapped up 27 homes with acreage, nearly twice the amount of a year earlier.

Post Falls showed the greatest strength, with sales up 37 percent.

Homes in the $70,000 to $200,000 range continue to be the most popular in Kootenai County. Three out of four homes sold in 1995 were in that range, the listing service said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Home Sales