Midmarket Home Costs Ease Slightly Affordability Survey Yields Mixed Results For Local Area

An easing of prices for midmarket Spokane homes last year slightly increased affordability compared with homes in other cities, according to a Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index.

In contrast, escalating prices in Coeur d’Alene decreased affordability for similar homes.

But both communities remained attractive vs. most of the 278 others included in a survey of the United States and Canada.

The homes used for comparison are single-family with 2,200 square feet of floor space, four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and a twocar garage.

The homes were selected from neighborhoods considered typical for midmanagement transferees.

Home values are plugged into a formula that enables transferees to calculate the approximate cost of a home like their present one.

Coldwell Banker Broker Doreen Barrett said four Spokane homes - two North Side, two South Hill - were submitted for the survey this year.

Their average sales price was $172,975, well above the $109,119 average for all homes sold in Spokane in 1994. And unlike the average price for all homes, which increased almost $10,000, the homes used in the Coldwell Banker survey declined almost $6,000 in price.

The result was a change in the Spokane market index number from 90 in 1993 to 88 in 1994, meaning homes were marginally more affordable.

Coeur d’Alene’s index number, 77, was lower than Spokane’s, but an increase of eight from a year ago. The three homes used in the survey jumped from $135,743 in price to $151,500.

Those figures were also above the average for the overall market.

Coeur d’Alene Sales Manager John Bodenburg said he picked homes toward the upper end of the spectrum to meet Coldwell Banker’s requirement they be suitable for middle managers.

“I thought we came out a little higher than we should,” he said.

But prices in both communities were modest by comparison with those in the most expensive markets.

In super-pricey Beverly Hills, the same home would cost about $886,000, for an index number of 452.

Fort Worth, Texas, is the cheapest market. The home would cost $92,125, for an index number of 47.

Other measures also indicate homes in the region remain relatively affordable except for entry level homes sought by first-time buyers.