2010 sales finish ahead of 2009
Buoyed by sales of homes on acreage and discounted condominiums, we ended last year with an increase in sales activity. Unlike the condo market though, the homes on acreage category showed an increase in average price. Sales of residential properties on acreage increased by 44 percent, from 308 sales in 2009 to 445 in 2010, with the average price there increasing 2 percent to $290,953, up from $284,661.
Waterfront and secondary waterfront sales also helped boost our totals with significant increases in number of sales but waterfront prices took a beating, down 20 percent from the previous year on average.
When all types of residential sales reported to the Multiple Listing Service are considered we posted gains in units sold of 7.4 percent over 2009 with dollar volume up 14.5 percent. Average prices overall also increased by 6.6 percent. In December 2009, 66 percent of our residential sales we bought for less than $200,000. In 2010, 63 percent of sales fell into that price range.
In the category where the majority of activity occurs, single family homes on less than an acre, things were not all rosy. Our number of sales in that primary category fell by 2 percent from 1,929 units in 2009 to 1,900 last year. Average prices continued to slip as well, off 4 percent from last year with some areas harder hit than others. In the Rathdrum/Twin Lakes area the average price fell by 15 percent, while north Kootenai County showed an average and median price increase of 10 percent.
Relative to the volume increase (7.4 percent), our inventory is down. In December we had 2,878 residential listings or 7.4 percent fewer than at the end of last year (3,107). Numbers of all listing types are lower than 2009 by 7.6 percent. 2010 then, was the first year since 2004 that year-to-year inventory declined and our second consecutive year of increased number of sales.
Here is what
happened by region:
• Kootenai County: Sales off by 5 percent, average price off by 3 percent.
• Silver Valley: Sales up by 29 percent, average price off 13 percent.
• Bonner/Boundary: Sales up 44 percent, average price off 9 percent.
• Benewah/South: Sales down from 27 to 21 (22 percent), average price off 8 percent.
Of the cities reported in our annual totals, Hayden is the only one showing an increase in sales of single family homes on less than an acre of land. Those sales were up from 230 in 2009 to 250 in 2010 for a 9 percent increase although the average price was down by 7 percent over the previous year.
Rathdrum/Twin Lakes was the hardest hit in 2010 with their average single family price down by 15 percent and volume down by 12 percent.
You can easily see the disparity from city to city and area to area. This should help you see that real estate market conditions are very local. The disparity from national reports to ours is apparent and what happens in Spokane does not necessarily happen in Coeur d'Alene. Although we don't have space to report them here, the same disparity may be seen from neighborhood to neighborhood within the same city.
If you truly want to know how the market is in your neighborhood, contact your favorite Realtor. They have the tools to zero in on your market and can give you a report on its condition.
For a safe trip home, call a Realtor. Call your Realtor or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a Realtor member who will represent your best interests.
Kim Cooper is a real estate broker, Realtor and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors. Kim and the association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling (208) 667-0664 with your questions or commentary.