Brisk Kootenai County sales continue

Home sales in Kootenai County kept up a brisk pace in August, with nearly 350 transactions recorded.

The average sales price countywide was $205,819, an increase of nearly 30 percent in the past 12 months. The communities of Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Hayden Lake led the way, with average sales prices in the $246,000 range. Homes were most affordable in the Rathdrum-Hauser area, which had average sales prices of $166,301.

Through August, residential sales volume in Kootenai County totaled nearly $472 million, a 44 percent increase from last year.

In Shoshone County, 27 homes sold during the month of August. The average sale price was $91,872, which is 51 percent higher than a year ago.

Consumer confidence deflates economic index

A widely followed gauge of future economic activity fell for the second straight month during August as consumer confidence sagged even before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

The Conference Board said Thursday its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2 percent last month to 137.6. July’s slight increase was revised to a small decrease and there were downward revisions to previous months.

The private research group said consumer expectations, one of the components of the index, fell during August. The data for the index, collected before Katrina’s devastation, is consistent with the economy continuing to expand more moderately in the near term, the Conference Board said.

General Mills earnings up 38 percent

General Mills Inc. surprised Wall Street with a 38 percent jump in its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, but the nation’s second largest cereal maker said it expects higher fuel prices to pressure earnings for the rest of the year.

The maker of Cheerios and Wheaties cereals also said it is on track to recover from a blunder last year when it raised prices faster than competitors.

General Mills shares rose $1.51, or 3.4 percent, to close at $46.19 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock traded at nearly $54 a share in January.

•Oracle Corp.’s fiscal first-quarter earnings matched analyst expectations as the business software maker continued to digest its recent acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. and prepared to devour another longtime nemesis, Siebel Systems Inc.

The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company said Thursday it earned $519 million, or 10 cents per share, for the three months ended in August. That mirrored the results posted at the same time last year when Oracle registered net income of $509 million, or 10 cents per share.

Revenue for the period totaled $2.77 billion, a 25 percent increase from $2.22 billion a year earlier.