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Residential Home Sales Data for North Idaho- Second Quarter and First Half 2008 Report:

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The second quarter and first half numbers are in! While most of the Nation peruses rather dismal residential sales data, North Idaho has often stood out from the rest! Let's see if that was true in the first half of 2008 versus the first half of 2007 in regards to residential home sales.

Is It Really That Bad?

We have all heard how bad the Real Estate market is, and continue to hear about foreclosures nationwide. But we also hear that the market in North Idaho is distinctively different than other parts of the country. So how did the market perform in the first half of 2008 as compared to the same period in 2007? Let’s find out!

At first the data does not seem surprising. When we look at single family homes on less than one acre sold in the first half of 2008 versus the first half of 2007 we see that the number of units sold was down in most areas. Down twenty-three percent in CDA/Dalton, down twenty-six percent in Post Falls, down thirty percent in Hayden, down two percent in Rathdrum/Hauser and down a whopping thirty-six percent in Silver Valley!

But the unit sold data, as dismal as it appears, is only part of the story. In Coeur d’Alene and Dalton Gardens the average sales price was flat. In Rathdrum/Hauser the average sales price was up eight percent, despite the drop in units sold. Post Falls and Hayden had an average price drop of twelve percent. What happened in Silver Valley where the number of units sold was down so drastically?

The average sale price in Silver Valley was actually up six percent. So in terms of Residential listings, sales may be down overall, but pricing pressure is generally flat to up with the exception of Post Falls and Hayden.

The average sales price of all reported areas was down only three percent in the first half of 2008. This means that buyers, who may have been waiting for the market to go even lower, may now be at the point where a continued wait for price declines may never occur, and even if they do then the higher mortgage rates predicted for later this year and next may make the issue a moot point. And sellers can gain comfort in the fact that price declines, overall, seem to quite muted this year.

From a seller’s standpoint it appears that the homeowner may not feel as much pressure to reduce price as the national headlines might lead one to believe. However it remains clear that only properly priced homes are selling. How do we know? Every single area mentioned except Silver Valley had the sold homes sell for ninety seven percent (or more on average) of their list price. Silver Valley residentials sold for ninety-two percent of their list price on average. What this means is that if the home was not priced within about three percent of market value then the home didn’t sell. That’s a pretty tight margin and strongly suggests that a qualified Competitive Market Analysis is critical if you are looking to sell your home for maximum value without overpricing it in this constantly changing environment.

Let’s see how some of the other markets performed:

Multifamily:

Down thirty-one percent in CDA/Dalton and down fifty-seven percent in Post Falls in terms of units sold. (23 sold in both areas in first half of 2007 versus 14 this year) Average prices were down twenty-six and seventeen percent respectively.

Vacant Land 1- 10 Acres:

CDA/Dalton saw vacant land sales decrease from eight units to one unit. Post Falls was flat with nine sold in the first half of each year.

Rathdrum saw its land sold drop from 17 to 7 in the first half of this year.

Keep in mind that multi-family and vacant land (excluding lots) that are sold in urban areas are often few in numbers so the percentage increases and decreases often appear to overstate the data.

SUMMARY: Residential sales of homes on less than one acre have been down only slightly in sold price averages overall. Significantly fewer buyers have come to the table in the first half of 2008 vs. the first half of 2007. As interest rates begin to move higher and in certain areas as prices begin to move higher we may see more buyer desire. However without a credit policy that will allow the buyer desire to turn into purchases the market could be held back. At this point in time the credit crunch may be the most serious aspect in regards to a recovering housing market.

Remember: Properly priced homes sell. If you are a home seller one of the most important steps you can take is getting a good, qualified CMA – not something spit out by computer!

To see data on Washington County Home Prices and Sales, click here.

First half residential Sold Price by Zip Code Averages for North Idaho

Average Days on Market First Half 2008 by ZIP Code

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