Home Sales Jump 25% In Coeur D’Alene Area

Kootenai County home sales continued to rebound in September, jumping a healthy 25 percent from the same month last year.

Realtors had all but accepted that home sales this year would finish behind the record set in 1994.

But sales have increased for three straight months, in part because prices have stalled.

“We might be seeing some price adjustments out there,” said Brian Stranger, president of the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service.

The average price of a home dropped 7 percent in September.

“People expecting to get a big return back off their homes may have decided to take more reasonable profits from selling their homes,” Stranger said. “If people still think they’ll get 25 percent more out of their home every year, they’re dreaming.”

Low-cost housing developments in Post Falls have been a big part of the turnaround. Sales rose 46 percent there compared with last September. Coeur d’Alene sales in September were up 34 percent from last year.

The market enters October just over 5 percent behind 1994’s record pace for units sold. But Stranger said even if sales catch up with last year’s total, the value of those homes likely won’t.

New construction, which makes up 30 percent of all the homes in the market, have comprised 43 percent of all sales so far this year, Stranger said.

Sales of homes with acreage and waterfront, not included in the MLS totals, rose 58 percent in September.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Home sales