Bert Caldwell

Commercial construction activity has reached a low point that many Spokane-area contractors may not outlast, the head of a local industry group said this week. Wayne Brokaw, executive director of Associated General Contractors-Inland Northwest, said bidding has become ferocious, with local contractors facing competition for work from companies as far away as Tennessee.

Agilent Technologies has put its Liberty Lake plant and surrounding campus up for sale with an asking price of $10.5 million. Kiemle & Hagood Co. broker Mike Livingston said attempts over the past two years to lease part or all of the 250,000-square-foot building have been unsuccessful, although that remains an option.

Unemployment fell slightly in Spokane County in May for the first time in months, possibly signaling a bottom for the local labor market, regional labor economist Doug Tweedy said Tuesday. The Washington Employment Security Department reported a gain of 2,470 jobs in May, a gain that whittled the unemployment rate down to 9.1 percent from 9.3 percent in April. The rate remains well above the 4.8 percent for May 2008.

First-time homebuyers shopping at the lower end of the market were partly responsible for a 4 percent month-to-month drop in the median price of a sold home in Spokane County, the executive vice president of the Spokane Association of Realtors said Thursday. Rob Higgins said an $8,000 stimulus tax credit just about covers the 3.5 percent down payment and closing costs on a $200,000 home financed with a Federal Housing Administration loan. The popularity of FHA financing has rebounded as conventional financing for more expensive homes has dried up.

The owners of two condominium developments along the Spokane River in Coeur d’Alene have deeply discounted more than 50 units to get potential buyers down from the fence. On July 12, 36 units at the Village at Riverstone will be auctioned, with reserve prices up to 55 percent off former list. The auction had been scheduled for next Sunday, but project marketing manager Mark Hensley said potential buyers from outside the area were telling salespeople school closings and other family priorities would not allow them enough time to get to Coeur d’Alene and walk through the property.

Tuesday was a good day for Ryan Gee. The chief executive officer of Gee Automotive Companies received definitive notice from General Motors that Gee would remain one of the reorganized corporation’s Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers. GM filed bankruptcy Monday.

The owners of two condominium developments along the Spokane River in Coeur d’Alene have deeply discounted more than 50 units to get potential buyers down from the fence.