Kootenai County home sales remain down

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County home sales continue to be down from last year and dramatically down from two years ago, according to the August report from Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors.

Through August, the number of single-family homes sold totaled 1,480, down nearly 20% from 1,817 for the same time frame last year.

Home sales in 2022 through August were also down 21% compared to the previous year, when 2,311 single-family homes were sold in first eight months of the year, which was when home sales were booming in North Idaho.

The median home price of a single-family home in Kootenai County in August was $525,000, down 5.4% from the previous year, but up slightly from July.

There were 1,104 current active residential listings in Kootenai County as of Sept. 6, according to the Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors, up from 1,079 last year.

Jared McFarland, president of Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors, said home sales slowed when mortgage interest rates on a basic 30-year loan bumped to more than 8%.

Potential sellers are reluctant to give up their lower interest rates and instead are hanging on to their homes, he said.

Inventory, meanwhile, has remained relatively flat and demand has been low due to the higher interest rates. He said he is seeing more price reductions.

There are, according to zillow.com, several homes for under $500,000 in Coeur d'Alene.

Those include a two-bedroom, 1,076-square-foot home for $424,900; a three-bedroom, 1,344-square-foot home for $439,873; and a three-bedroom, 984-square-foot home for $360,000.

Homes were taking longer to sell, as well.

The number of days between when a home was listed and closed in the Multiple Listing Service was 86, according to the August report, up nearly 30 percent from last year.

In Coeur d'Alene, new listings totaled 114 in August, about the same as 117 in 2022.

Pending sales in Coeur d'Alene in August were 61, down about 15% from August in 2022.

Closed sales in August in Coeur d'Alene totaled 67, down slightly from 73 the year before.

If rates come down to 5 or 6%, McFarland expects to see an uptick in the market.

"Interest rates are a big determinant," he said. "Lower rates would help."