Kootenai County home sales in March plummeted 35 percent from the same time last year, according to multiple listing records.

The trend suggests the once-white-hot housing market in the county may be cooling faster than originally thought. Only 88 homes sold in the county compared with 135 homes sold in March 1994.

The biggest sales drop happened in Coeur d’Alene, where sales fell more than 50 percent. Home prices here also declined 14 percent compared with March 1994 homes sold.

But stronger home prices in Post Falls helped keep the average home price 12 percent above last March’s.

At the end of the first quarter of 1995, the Kootenai County numbers were off 15 percent from 1994’s record pace, according to the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service.