While Shoshone County housing sales were up through May, the median home price was down.

Sixty homes sold in the first five months of this year in Shoshone County, an increase of 3.4% over the same time frame last year. The median sales price was $281,000, down 7.2% from the same time last year, according to the Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors website.

That more homes have sold was a surprise to Shoshone County real estate agent Cindy Carlson. 

"It’s typically slower in an election year," Carlson said.    

About 20% of the 113 single-family homes currently on the market in the Silver Valley have pending sales.  

Shoshone County homes are taking longer to sell, with an average of 107 days on the market, up 12.6% from May 2023. In comparison, Kootenai County homes are averaging 98 days on the market as of May, up 5.4% from the same time last year.

There is a significant gap between Shoshone and Kootenai County home prices.

Kootenai County median home prices reached $525,000 in May, up slightly over one year ago. This year, there have been 888 homes sold, an increase of 10.2% over last year, according to the MLS.

Kootenai County currently has about 1,000 single-family homes on the market.

Juli Zook of Silver Legacy Realty said home sales have remained steady even though the interest rate of 7% may have scared some buyers.

“It has slowed down some buyers, but that hasn’t hindered a lot of them,” Zook said. 

One issue more specific to real estate in Shoshone County is the flood plain insurance required for some properties in Kellogg, Smelterville and Pinehurst. 

The dispute between the three cities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency over what the floodplain consists of has been a tug-of-war that hit a stalemate last summer. 

“They went back and put things that weren’t in the flood plain back in the flood plain," Carlson said, calling it a “pretty sore spot” to factor in flood insurance on top of home-buying costs. 

The average flood insurance cost in the U.S. is $739 a year, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of 2023 National Flood Insurance Program rates.

"Once the interest rates climbed, making it hard especially for first-time buyers, you add your interest in it, and a lot of the homes in the Valley are in the flood plain now, so they have to have that insurance," Carlson said. 

Zook said additional homeowner costs have simply become part of the fabric of the housing market now, but elements like floodplain insurance can still be an unpleasant surprise for buyers.   

“If they’re at the top of their purchasing power, it can be tough,” Zook said.