Economic growth in Kootenai County next year likely wont be up to the tempo set there in the past three years, but still will make the county the envy of many communities, says Kathryn Tacke, regional economist in Coeur dAlene with the Idaho Department of Labor.


Job growth there in 2006 is expected to end up at 5 percent, following two years of 7 percent growth, but probably will fall to 1 percent to 2 percent in 2007, which is still a healthy level, Tacke says.


Meanwhile, home building and home sales fell sharply this year from earlier, red-hot activity, but observers say 2007 will be strong by historical standards.


Its important to remember just how spectacular the last three years were, Tacke says.


Cabelas Inc. will provide an economic bright spot in the coming year, she says. The sporting goods giant plans to open a 125,000-square-foot store next fall in a planned 800,000-square-foot retail development on the west end of Post Falls.


Jonathan Coe, president and general manager of the Coeur dAlene Area Chamber of Commerce, foresees a lot of other activity in 2007, including construction of the 18-story Parkside Condominiums in downtown Coeur dAlene, at least four new buildings and a hotel in the Riverstone mixed-use complex west of Northwest Boulevard, and the $35 million Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, on Ramsey Road.


This is an attractive place for businesses to locate; I dont foresee any dark clouds unless something happens nationally that we cant see, now, Coe says.


With the countys unemployment rate at a squeaky 3.5 percent, a tight workforce might be the biggest potential speed bump to economic growth, Tacke says.


Eric Keck, Post Falls city administrator, says business recruiters in Kootenai County are targeting new employers who offer higher-paying jobs, such as Biopol Laboratory Inc., which announced in October that it will move to Post Falls from Spokane, bringing 24 technical and professional jobs.


Another challenge, he says, will be encouraging housing thats affordable to families with lower incomes. The median home price in the Post Falls-Coeur dAlene market is now about $205,000, up nearly 15 percent from a year ago.


It all boils down to housing for the whole region, Keck says.


While the residential real estate market is off its 2005 peak, 2006 was the second-best year on record for sales volume in the county, says Pat Hartman, president of the Coeur dAlene Association of Realtors.


Through the first 10 months of this year, 2,041 homes were sold in the county, down 29 percent from the year-earlier period. Home sales volume through October was $487 million, down 18.6 percent.


Still, Hartman predicts that 2007 will be a good year for real estate sales volume compared with just a few years ago.