North Idaho sees a slowdown, too

Luxury condominiums continue to crop up along Kootenai County waterways.

But the regional condo-market slowdown also has affected North Idaho, said Anne Anderson, owner of Lakeshore Realty in Coeur d’Alene. She estimates there’s a roughly two-year supply of moderate- to high-end condos in the county.

“Across the board in the condo market, it has slowed down, even in your $150,000-range condos,” Anderson said. “But now consumers truly know what they’re purchasing when they buy” instead of purchasing based on plans.

Eleven of 53 condos at the 20-story Parkside Condominium tower, on Front Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets, remain for sale, said Dick Stauffer, a Coeur d’Alene architect who is a partner in the project. Units should be ready in June, he said.

“It’s gone about as well as it could, especially given market conditions,” Stauffer said, adding luxury homes seem less affected by the residential downturn. “We continue to be bullish on Coeur d’Alene in general.”

Condos there cost $600,000 for a 1,900-square-foot unit to $2.5 million for a 3,500-square-foot penthouse, a few of which have been reserved, Stauffer said. When completed, the roughly $50 million project will offer a full-time concierge, office space, a secure parking garage and a restaurant and coffee shop, he said.

The partners’ nearby 14-story McEuen Terrace building sold out.

Framing has started on the first of three five-story condo buildings at Ridgepointe, a 74-unit “exclusive gated community” next to the Coeur d’Alene Golf Resort by Bend, Ore.-based Edge Development Group. It will offer 2,150- to 3,400-square-foot condos ranging from $549,000 to about $2 million, said Duffy Smock, sales manager. The first building should be ready by spring 2009, he said.

Planned amenities include a swimming pool combined with a water feature, common areas offering locker rooms and showers, and high-end finishes.

As of early last month, SRM Development LLC, of Spokane, had sold about 80 percent of 55 units, ranging from about $300,000 to $800,000, in the first of three mixed-use condo buildings at Riverstone Village. The other buildings are out of the ground and may be completed later this year.

About a third of Kootenai County buyers last year were from outside the area, including Spokane, Anderson said. That compares with about 7 percent out-of-state buyers in Spokane County, she said.

“There’s definitely local people still wanting to purchase condos,” Anderson said.