By Tom Grote/The Star-News
Republished by permission from the Star-News of McCall. Subscribe to the digital or print editions.
The median sale price of a home in McCall topped $400,000 in 2019, according to real estate industry figures.
The median price of a home sold in the McCall area last year was about $406,000, according to the Mountain Central Association of Realtors. That compared to the median sales price of $371,000 in 2018, or a 9% rise.
By comparison, home prices in Ada County, which includes Boise, hit a new record high median of $363,000 in January, according to Boise Regional Realtors
[New condo project sprouting up in McCall]
In the Donnelly area, which includes Tamarack Resort, the median price of a home sold was about $322,000 last year. That compared to $278,000 in 2018, a 16% increase.
In Cascade, the median home sales price was about $267,000 in 2019, or a 72% rise over about $155,000 two years ago.
In New Meadows the median price in 2019 was $295,000, compared to $270,000, a change of 9%, the figures from the Realtors association said.
The median price is the number where half of the reported sales prices are higher and half are lower than the median price.
Home Sales Down
A total of 483 homes were sold in 2019 in the region monitored by the Mountain Central Association of Realtors. That is about 12% less than the 548 homes sold in 2018 and just under the 490 homes sold in the region in 2017.
There were 293 homes sold in the McCall area in 2019, or 10% less than the 325 homes sold in 2018, according to the Realtors group.
However, sales in 2018 were 10% higher than the 293 homes sold in 2017, the figures said.
A total of 70 homes were sold in the Donnelly/Tamarack area last year compared to 95 in 2018, a 26% drop, and 82 in 2017.
In the Cascade area, a total of 69 homes were sold in 2019, a 9% drop from the 76 homes sold in 2018 and about the same number as the 71 homes sold in 2017.
Without donors like you, this story would not exist.
Make a donation of any size here
A total of 51 homes sold last year in the New Meadows area, about the same as the 52 homes sold in 2018 and higher than the 44 homes sold in 2017.
Lack of inventory was cited for the decline in sales by Shane Hinson, president of the Realtors board and owner/agent for RE/MAX Resort Realty in McCall.
“We seem to have buyers, but being so limited in inventory, we seem to be missing opportunities to sell,” Hinson said.
Rising prices are eliminating buyers who can either afford housing as a primary resident or can only afford a modest second home, he said.
Lot Sales Up
The bright spot in the Realtor figures was in the sale of bare lots, which continued to rise in 2019.
A total of 447 lots sold throughout the region last year, a 9% increase over the 411 lots sold in 2018 and a 27% increase over the 352 lots sold in 2017.
The most lots sold by region were 163 in McCall, followed by 118 lots in Cascade, 116 lots in Donnelly/Tamarack and 50 lots in New Meadows.
Lots that had access to city water and sewer service sold the fastest, Hinson said.
“The other factor in the increase of sales in lots is the lack of resale home inventory, forcing buyers to build,” he said.
Homes on sale in McCall led the region for time listed before selling in 2019. McCall homes sold in an average of 19 weeks, while homes in Donnelly/Tamarack and New Meadows sold in an average of 17 weeks.
Homes on the market in Cascade sold the fastest, with sellers only having to wait 14 weeks on average for a sale.
