Kootenai County growth will fuel on housing industry

Kootenai County will need about 25,000 new single family homes by 2015 to keep up with population growth.

The forecast, made last year by Avista’s Chief Economist Randy Barcus, was the focus of a talk Thursday at the 2007 Real Estate Market Forum.

Barcus based his prediction on the county adding 57,000 residents by 2015. New arrivals will account for most of the growth. Generally speaking, the newcomers will fit three key profiles, said Pat Krug, managing broker of Windermere Realty in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

People moving to the area for work comprise one demographic, she said. Kootenai County added nearly 3,000 jobs last year. People moving for jobs are looking for affordable family housing, priced from $130,000 to $300,000.

In addition, baby boomers will continue to play a large role in North Idaho’s market, Krug said. They’re moving into the area from West Coast metro areas and smaller towns in the Inland Northwest. Boomers are looking for their dream homes. They also want a house that will meet their needs as they grow older.

Krug calls the final group “Vacation Home Collectors.” This group is affluent, earning $200,000 to $500,000 per year. They’re looking for vacation properties that also have investment value. Many prefer waterfront.

“They consider Kootenai County a good value for what $1 million can buy,” Krug said.

Though Kootenai County’s long-term real estate outlook is very strong, the marketed experienced a slowdown last year, Krug said. Only 38 percent of the homes listed in 2006 were sold.

The other homes “were not really for sale, because they were not competitively priced,” Krug said. Sellers were asking top-dollar for their properties, not realizing that the market peaked in mid-2005, she said.

For homes priced at $200,000 and below, the market is relatively balanced, Krug said, with nearly equal amounts of inventory and demand. For properties priced above $250,000, however, “it’s a buyers’ market,” she said. Inventories are high, and buyers have their pick of multiple properties.