Columnist says real estate investing is down

Business Week Columnist Chris Palmeri recently wrote that purchases of investment property fell by 28.9 percent nationwide last year.

Investors have been named as partial culprits in the steep appreciation in home prices that the Coeur d’Alene area experienced in the past two years.

Citing numbers from the National Association of Realtors, Palmeri said that sales of homes as primary residence fell by 4.1% to 4.82 million, last year.

While homebuyers may find a more friendly market this year, people looking for vacation homes might not.

Palmeri’s column said that vacation home sales increased by 4.7% to a record 1.07 million in 2006.