We made it

Although it was touch and go, the Debt Forgiveness Act survived the fiscal cliff negotiations. This means that folks who are losing their homes will not have to pay income taxes on the money they lost as if it was income. Example; when a home sells for less than owed the IRS considers the balance as personal income even though no money was tendered. Realtors' lobbying efforts to keep the exception to this tax code - which expired Dec. 31, 2012 - intact, at least for the short term were successful. So too, did we retain the Mortgage Interest Deduction which provides some incentive for people to buy and own homes. Caps have limited the deduction for high income families and the MID will undoubtedly be scrutinized as Congress fine tunes their 11th hour agreement. For now at least we can heave a sigh of relief that the slow, but steady, housing market recovery can continue.

As far as our local market; we were able to sustain our recovery as well through the end of 2012. Our year-end figures prove that the trend of market movement is sustaining itself as we continue to see improvement in most areas of North Idaho.

As in months before, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Hayden continue to post gains in both numbers of homes sold and in average selling prices. Our average price for a single family, site-built home in Coeur d'Alene is now at $187,788 which reflects an 11 percent increase over last year. We also ended the year having sold 11 percent more homes than in 2011. Hayden homes averaged 7 percent higher at $212,466 while the number of units sold there was 9 percent better than the previous year. Post Falls, with an average price of $161,708 showed appreciation of 6 percent over 2011 with a 10 percent increase in numbers.

With month after month of consecutive gains in production, the Silver Valley ended the year with 2 percent fewer home sales than in 2011. To quantify though, that only reflects three fewer sales for the year when compared to 2011. Troubled by unemployment, their market average for single family homes decreased by 13 percent, when compared to 2011, at $67,956.

Employment may also be the issue in Bonner/Boundary counties where sales are reported as one area. Although together their number of sales was an impressive 13 percent higher in 2012 over 2011, their average price remained below the previous year by 12 percent at $159,249.

To the South, which includes Benewah County as well as south Kootenai County, production improved by 15 percent with a net decline in average price for the year of just 3 percent. Of course that area contains many waterfront properties which sold briskly last year, exceeding 2011 by a staggering 43 percent, however the average price for a waterfront home remains 7 percent below that previous year, indicating there are still bargains to be found before recovery is complete. The average paid for waterfront in 2012 was $555,888.

Surprisingly, secondary waterfront, with no water touching it, performed strongly with a 17 percent increase in the number of sales and an average price that was 35 percent higher than 2011. That average was $319,909 in 2012, up from $236,784 the previous year.

The condo market in North Idaho showed a slight slowdown, declining in number of sales by 5 percent although those that did sell showed an average appreciation of 4 percent above the previous year at $208,743. Townhouse activity dropped significantly - 41 percent - no doubt due in part to the improvement in average price to $207,354 which is 50 percent higher than 2011!

We continue to be optimistic that the recovery will continue, dragging up those rural and commercial properties that lag behind our city activity. We hope you all noticed improvement in your lives in 2012 and that you will prosper in 2013.

Trust an expert...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 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.