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Real estate market continuing to attract attention Posted: Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 - 08:23:32 am PDT By R.J. COHN Staff writer
SANDPOINT -- Just how strong Bonner County's red-hot real estate industry is torching the market became more evident with a new wave of eye-popping statistics just released by the Selkirk Association of Realtors and Multiple Listing Service. If last year's real estate frenzy opened up the flood gates for both buyers and sellers scooping up properties in the region from the mountains to the lake, that trend has carried over into 2005 -- even though prices in many categories were considerably higher.Despite what many area Realtors described as a "softening market," figures for the first eight months of the year show it's still as robust as ever, especially residential homes in Sandpoint, where the average selling price is inching closer to $300,000. If the sheer number of properties sold doesn't top 2004's record-setting year, it has still been a solid eight months for Realtors who continue to close transactions and field phone calls for prospective buyers.
Through August, the association's statistics show 419 homes in the city of Sandpoint have sold carrying an average price tag of $273,480. That's $45,000 more than last year, when 640 homes were purchased in the city limits. County-wise, 749 residential homes with a median price of $187,500 have sold compared to 1,115 bought last year at $155,000. "People want to come and live here because this community offers whatever it is you're looking for," said Jackson-Heim. "One of its best feature is that it's not homogenous, but very accommodating. Whether it's living in a city where you can walk to just about everything or having a few acres in the country, this area has the best of every world." If you're considering jumping into Sandpoint waterfront real estate, this might be the time to make that leap. Prices have dipped about $22,000 from 2004, and you can pick one up for an average selling price of $501,506. So far, 110 buyers have plunked down their hard-earned cash for a lakeside home in Sandpoint versus only 65 from last year. "The term 'waterfront' just doesn't mean posh homes on Lake Pend Oreille," explained Jackson-Heim. "It takes in properties on lots of small lakes and rivers like Pack River." However, if you had the cash three years ago, a ""waterfront" home could have been picked up for a song at around $300,000, close to what a residential house in Sandpoint is now selling for. For those who just can't let go of the dream of owning lakeside property, they might consider shopping for waterfront real estate in other areas of Bonner County, where prices have plummeted close to $100,000 from last year. While 35 waterfront houses sold in 2004 averaging $475,109 a pop, twice as many buyers this year jumped into the market, picking up homes that averaged $388,388. But there's nothing quite like hindsight. If you had your thinking cap on three years ago -- along with a pocket full of cash -- you could have latched onto your waterfront dream house somewhere in Bonner County for only $150,688. Ski enthusiasts and lovers of alpine meadows won't find any bargains at Schweitzer Mountain. While only 29 properties have sold there this year compared to 69 in 2004, the price tag has shot up to $360,877, nearly $100,000 more than a year ago. While average prices of Priest River/Priest Lake homes increased almost $40,000 to $183,813, those selling in Hope plunged about $144,000. So far, 40 have sold, averaging $163,778. Despite this year's upbeat sales activity, there is considerably more inventory on the market than one year at this ago. Yet, it's also more pricey. The association has 768 residential listings with an average list price tag of $448,461 compared to 642 last year that averaged $242,881. There are 554 parcels of vacant land averaging $252,578 -- that's up almost $140,000 from 413 listings from last year's market. While the number of commercial listings have dropped from 137 to 73, they're boasting an average listing price of nearly $500,000, about $250,000 more than in 2004. Even multi-family listings have dramatically increased their value from last year and are fetching $308,422, around $90,000 from a year ago. POST YOUR OPINION
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Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.