Kootenai County home prices rise as luxury sales surge

Kootenai County’s housing market is heating up in a way that matters to household budgets, not just sales totals. The median price of a single-family home reached $555,738 in May, up 2.3% from a year earlier, while the county also saw a sharp jump in sales above $2 million, a segment that usually stays far quieter from March through June.

The pressure is not spread evenly across the market. Most pending sales landed in the $350,000 to $550,000 range, showing that the busiest slice of the county still sits in the middle and lower tiers where local buyers are trying to stay within reach. Jared McFarland, a local real estate agent, said homes in the lower price ranges are still moving quickly because demand remains strongest where affordability is least out of reach. That is where the competition is most direct, and where rising prices most quickly translate into higher monthly payments.

Inventory remains a key reason. Zillow showed 953 homes for sale in Kootenai County at the end of April, with 334 new listings that month and a median days-to-pending figure of 20. That is the kind of pace that keeps buyers moving fast, especially when 63.3% of sales are still closing under list price but 15.1% are going over it. The numbers suggest a market that is competitive without being uniformly overheated, but one in which well-priced homes can still draw quick attention.

The most striking shift is at the top end. Historically, Kootenai County has seen fewer than 30 homes sell for more than $2 million between March and June. This spring, that number has increased significantly, signaling that luxury buyers are active at the same time as first-time and move-up buyers. In practical terms, that means the county is not seeing just one kind of housing demand, but two markets moving together.

The longer trend helps explain why the current jump feels meaningful. Five years ago, McFarland said, the median single-family home price was $445,000. Since then, the county has seen a 37% price climb in 2021, a rise to $549,950 in April 2022, a dip to $515,000 in April 2023, then $519,450 in April 2024 and $543,021 in April 2025 before May’s $555,738. Zillow put Kootenai County’s typical home value at $602,439 as of April 30, also up 2.5% over the year.

That momentum lands in a county that keeps growing. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Kootenai County’s population at 191,864 on July 1, 2025, with 86,151 housing units and a 71.3% owner-occupied rate. In Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden, the market is still active enough to give sellers leverage and buyers choices, but not enough to make housing feel easier.