Kootenai County home prices up modestly as inventory tightens in 2025

Kootenai County's housing market closed 2025 with modest appreciation and a familiar sense of stability, leaving buyers and sellers to navigate limited choices and steady demand. The median price for a single-family home was $549,000, a 4.3% increase from 2024, while total closed sales edged up 1.2% to 2,484 and the average days on market fell 3.1% to 93 days.

Inventory tightened entering the new year. Listings as of Jan. 6 totaled 668, down 7% from the same time a year earlier and nearly 25% below the prior month. That drop amplifies seasonal patterns: January through March traditionally bring fewer fresh listings in the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden corridors, leaving buyers with fewer active choices in the winter market. "Buyers tend to have less options this time of year," Jared McFarland, a Century 21 Beutler and Associates agent, wrote.

Local brokers described 2025 as a year without dramatic swings. "The 2025 real estate year in North Idaho was notably steady, with no major market swings in either direction," Jennifer Smock, co-owner and managing broker with Coeur d'Alene/Windermere Realty and president of Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors, wrote. She added that "interest rates continued to be the dominant storyline, as buyers and sellers closely watched whether rates would rise, fall, or stabilize" and that "home values remained fairly level across most residential segments, with only modest appreciation in well-located and well-maintained properties."

National mortgage rates remained above recent cyclical lows, keeping affordability a constraint for some buyers. Bankrate reported a 30-year fixed mortgage average of 6.16%, with 30-year refinance rates at 6.55% and 15-year refinance rates at 5.87%. Those rate levels help explain why price growth was measured rather than rapid, and why incentives such as closing-cost assistance or interest-rate buydowns are appearing more often in the local market.

Neighboring Shoshone County also showed modest gains: the median single-family price reached $288,500 in 2025, up 2.6%, with 172 homes sold, a 3.6% rise, and an average 100 days on market, a 13.6% increase. Residential listings there held essentially steady from a year earlier.

Looking toward 2026, Smock expects a bit more momentum as rates stabilize. "With interest rates stabilizing and beginning to trend downward, buyer confidence is slowly rebuilding," she wrote. "Many buyers who paused their plans over the past year may now feel more comfortable re-entering the market, particularly those relocating to North Idaho for lifestyle, employment, or retirement reasons." She noted that "this is especially true in new construction and move-in-ready homes, which continue to perform well locally," and cautioned that "while we are not anticipating rapid price appreciation, the market remains solid, predictable and well-suited for those making thoughtful, well-timed real estate decisions."

The takeaway? For local buyers, patience and pre-approval matter as options remain constrained this winter; for sellers, modest demand and seller incentives can translate into workable deals without the volatility of past boom years. Our two cents? If you’re planning a move in Kootenai County, get your financing lined up and weigh incentives carefully — timing and condition still beat frenzied bids.