In the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area, selling a home is the easy part these days.


Finding a new one to buy is a bit trickier.


The Spokane and Coeur dAlene multiple listing services report unusually low numbers of homes for sale in those markets. Real estate professionals here say the low housing inventory is beginning to cause bidding wars for available homessomething virtually unheard of in the region just two years agoand is causing home prices to rise quickly.


Its positive, of course, for people who want to cash in on their homes, says Richard Kohles, president of the Coeur dAlene MLS and a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty. The people at the low end of the economic spectrum, though, are getting squeezed out of the market.


The Spokane MLS reports that just over 1,300 homes were for sale in the Spokane area as of the end of January. That was down 18 percent compared with a year earlier, when 1,600 homes were on the market, and represents a 35 percent drop from January 2003, when 2,040 homes were available.


This is as low as I ever remember seeing it, says Rob Higgins, the Spokane Association of Realtors longtime executive vice president.


The relatively small number of homes on the market is a new phenomenon for Spokane.


In past eras of peak home-sales activity, such as the 1980-1981 timeframe and the early 1990s, the number of homes on the market remained relatively consistent, at between 2,000 and 2,100 active listings, Higgins says. The inventory today looks especially low comparatively, considering that the population here has grown markedly since those two previous sales spikes occurred.


The Coeur dAlene MLS, meanwhile, reports that 920 homes were listed for sale in Kootenai County as of the end of January, down 29 percent from 1,370 active listings a year earlier.


In the same period, the median sale price of homes here has increased quickly. For sales reported through the Spokane MLS, the median price rose 11 percent in January, to $133,000, from $120,000 in the year-earlier month. In Coeur dAlene, the median sale price jumped almost 17 percent, to $148,500 from $127,400.


In Spokane, that kind of home appreciation isnt as high as what was experienced in the early 1990s, when annual appreciation peaked at 18 percent in 1992. Current appreciation is much higher, however, than it has been over the past 10 years, when home-price appreciation typically has been between 2 percent and 3 percent a year, judging by average prices.


In both markets, real estate agents outnumber available homes listed through the MLS. About 1,450 real estate agents are licensed in Spokane County, Higgins says. In Coeur dAlene, about 940 agents are members of the MLS, Kohles says.


Higgins doesnt put a lot of stock in those comparisons, though. He says that in real estate sales, one typically can apply the 80-20 rule, which is that 80 percent of the sales are handled by 20 percent of the agents. Also, some licensed agents arent necessarily active.


Winter typically is the slowest time of year for real estate sales, and listing activity usually picks up in the spring and summer months.


Laraine Hunter, the designated broker at John L. Scott Citywide Inc., of Spokane, says that because this winter has been mild, she thought that listing activity typically seen in the spring would start now, but that hasnt happened.


There are a few more listings, but not as much as you would think, she says.


Bidding wars


In the current environment, bidding wars for houses are beginning to occur. She says a John L. Scott client here recently submitted an offer on a home that was $10,000 above the asking price, but the buyer was outbid by one of seven other people who submitted offers on that house.


Of course, not all homes will attract bidding wars, and some still sit on the market for some time before selling. Higgins says the average length of time a home is on the market here currently is about 60 days. That includes time between when a sale agreement is struck, and the transaction is completed, which typically takes about 30 days.


Time on the market, however, has shrunk, Higgins says. Two years ago, he says, average time on the market was closer to 100 days.


Hunter says that homes in the $100,000 to $150,000 price rangea typical range for first-time home buyers these daysare moving quickly. Homes in the next step up, between $150,000 and $200,000, also typically dont last long. Generally speaking, higher-priced homes are selling at a somewhat slower rate, though there has been a surprising amount of activity in the luxury-home market.


Kohles says that in the Kootenai County market, it also is difficult for first-time buyers to find homes below $150,000.


Agents adapting


Also, he says, real estate agents who represent sellers are wrestling with how to maximize the value of the homes they list. With prices rising quickly, it isnt always possible to find recent sales of comparable properties. Consequently, agents struggle in suggesting prices that arent either too high or too low, he says.


There has been a learning curve for agents represent home buyers as well. Hunter says many agents only have worked in a buyers market, when there are plenty of homes for sale and not as much demand for them. Those agents have had to learn to prepare offers better and to be more aggressive when helping clients pursue properties.


In this kind of market, skills are the name of the game, Hunter says. If youre a buyer, you want a Realtor who will get you there very quickly and structure your offer so that you are going to win in a multiple-bidder situation.


Higgins says that if inventories remain low, home builders likely will continue to see more demand, as more buyers turn to new homes after not finding what they want in the existing-home market. Also, home values will continue to trend upward, he says.


Earlier this month, a Wall Street Journal article listed Spokane among metropolitan statistical areas in which median home-sale prices had increased dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2004 compared with the year-earlier quarter. Higgins says he saw Spokane on a similar list in a CNN news report.


The statistics used to quantify Spokanes sale-price growth, however, which were provided by the National Association of Realtors, are dramatically higher than those generated by the local association. Higgins says the national associations numbers for Spokane appear to be incorrect.


The national associations data also suggest low home inventories in markets nationwide, which Higgins believes to be the case.


This inventory issue is common across the country, he says. Its an issue in most metropolitan areas.


The increase in home-sales activity in recent years has been attributed largely to historically low mortgage rates. Those rates have ticked up in recent months, but not enough to hurt home sales, real estate professionals say.


In addition, real estate agents say, more people are moving to the Spokane-Coeur dAlene market from out of state. Hunter and Kohles say theyve seen a number of buyers come here from the southwestern U.S., specifically Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.


Compared to those markets, Hunter says, home prices in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene market are low.


We have community and we have affordable housing, she says. That will continue to drive the outside market in.


Despite the low inventory, the number of homes that were sold through the Spokane MLS jumped 17 percent in January, to 316 homes from 270 homes in the year-earlier month. Total dollar volume increased 25 percent, to $47.4 million from $37.9 million.


January sales of homes in Kootenai County through the Coeur dAlene MLS increased 13 percent, to 174 homes from 154 in the year-earlier month. Total dollar volume shot up 42 percent to $30.5 million, from $21.5 million a year earlier.