Home sales ahead of last year

| May 15, 2010 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County home sales through April remain well ahead of last year's pace, according to the Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service.

The MLS reported that 504 homes in the county have sold, a 36 percent increase over the same four-month time frame in 2009.

Realtors credited the tax rebate, low interest rates and modest home prices for the increased activity.

"Closings everywhere are running well ahead of last year and in fact are increasing their rate of gain in comparison to other years as well," wrote Pete Faust, Realtor with Century 21 Beutler and Associates.

In Coeur d'Alene and Dalton Gardens, 223 single-family homes have sold through April, a 59 percent increase over last year, while the average sales price was $180,042, down 6 percent.

In Post Falls, 162 homes have sold, a 15 percent increase, while the average price was $172,363, down 3 percent.

In Hayden, 71 single-family homes have sold, up 48 percent from last year, while the average price was $205,805, down 8 percent.

And in Rathdrum and Twin Lakes, 31 homes were sold through April, up 15 percent, while the average sales price was $146,026, a 21 percent drop.

The total volume of residential sales reported to the MLS for the first four months of this year is $166.7 million, up 36 percent.

Waterfront sales nearly doubled to 19, as the average sales price fell 39 percent to $792,247.

For April, 73 percent of all residential sales reported to the MLS were for less than $200,000. The average sales price of a three-bedroom, two-bath home was $170,518, with 97 days on the market.

The number of homes on the market, 4,012, was up 5.5 percent from April 2009.

Realtors believe sales will remain strong heading into summer. Some said they sold more properties in the first half of 2010 than in all of 2009.

"All areas are even or up from last year - all price categories are selling better," Faust wrote. "But prices remain down - and will no doubt continue to be so as long as the supply of shorts sales and bank-owned property remains high."