Rising prices show stability
We now have six consecutive months of average price increases in the Coeur d'Alene/Dalton areas of our multiple listing service. With that succession and the continued increases in sales over last year, we will now refer to this as a trend.
In May of this year we realized a huge jump in average price for a single family home on its own lot. The increase over May 2010 was a whopping 21 percent with an increase in the number of sales for that area of 11 percent. You may recall we were cautious about the implication at that time.
Now that we have October figures and since the upward movement in pricing has continued each month, albeit not at May's rate, we are comfortable saying that the Coeur d'Alene/Dalton segment is in recovery. October sales continued to outpace 2011 as we moved 10 percent more housing units than at the same time last year. Our average price there was 9 percent higher than the previous year.
Post Falls has surprised us a bit. It has maintained zero to modest appreciation throughout the year however in October it experienced an average price increase of 6 percent while increasing its number of sales by 4 percent. This should come as a relief to market weary sellers while providing a signal to buyers that it is time to move forward in that city.
Hayden too, posts a 6 percent increase in average price but there the increase in number of sales outpaced Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls with 13 percent more homes sold than at the same time in 2011.
We wish we knew what to do for our neighbors in the Silver Valley. Perhaps last week's news of Hecla reopening its Lucky Friday mine and the scheduled hiring of more Superfund clean up crews will bring that market the rejuvenation it so sorely needs.
They are moving inventory there. Last month's sales were 16 percent higher than at this time last year although their average price continues to provide bargain hunters with many viable options since their average price is still 11 percent below 2011's average.
The same can be said for Bonner, Boundary and Benewah counties. All showed excellent improvement in numbers of homes sold, yet they cannot seem to achieve any increases in average price value. At the pace each of these areas is selling homes though, it shouldn't be long before their sellers begin to realize some equity gains.
Another sign of recovery for our market as a whole is that short sales and foreclosures continue to represent a smaller portion of our sold properties. Last October those distressed properties accounted for 42 percent of our sales. This year, as of October, those same property types accounted for less than 34 percent of our totals.
Our October statistics also reflect that there are still bargains in waterfront properties. The average price of those properties was below last year by 11 percent although the number of sales was 44 percent higher. Once again, this activity implies prices will soon rise as available properties become scarce.
Right now we have 11.2 percent fewer listings than last year and that inventory number has dropped by 5 percent since just September. For residential properties we are nearly 7 percent below last year meaning that inventory is gradually shrinking, leading to increased competition.
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Trust an expert...call a Realtor. To find a Realtor to represent you visit the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors website; www.cdarealtors.com. There you can also search available properties in the Multiple Listing Service.
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 commentary and feedback. You may contact them by calling 667-0664 or by writing to them at 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814.