Note: This piece was written and shot for the Murrow Rural Reporting Plunge. For more info, please see https://rural.murrowbpj.com/
St. Maries, Idaho, is seeing an increase in population and realty as of late.
People want to come and be involved in small-town living Priscilla Derry, a resident of St. Maries for 83 years, said.
When the COVID pandemic came a real estate boom followed over the past couple of years Mandi Knapp, designated broker and owner of St. Maries Realty, said.
Knapp is also on the board of directors for the Coeur d’Alene Association of Realtors and they have recently discussed the growth within small towns.
“We saw a whole variation of demand just from locals,” Knapp said.
St. Maries also saw this from people coming from outside of the community.
“We saw everybody wanting to come from other states, potentially for a different way of life,” she said.
Derry said these people want to get away from the crime and politics going on in bigger cities and that she stayed in St. Maries because of the quietness.
“I haven’t found any place I like better,” she said.
Knapp said even Coeur d’Alene folks want to get out of the town now that it is so busy.
St. Maries is a relatively small town, but Benewah County has lots of room and lots of different options for people, whether they want waterfront, mountains, getaway cabins or homesteads. There is a lot of variability in what is available in St. Maries, Knapp said.
People are also moving to St. Maries for freedom.
“Benewah County doesn’t have any zoning, so [people] like to be able to just do what they want and not have any rules if you wish,” she said.
Affordability was another major factor compared to other areas.
“We’ve seen an increase in prices, but it still is relatively affordable,” she said. “Unfortunately, affordability for local people has changed a bit, and that is one of our challenges.”
There are a lot of expensive properties on the market, homes on acreages are going for more than $600,000, and anything affordable is going for less than $200,000, which sells quickly because they are hard to find, Knapp said.
Local jobs and wages are not able to help pay people for what they would need to buy a house right now, Knapp said.
“Most people are just worried that their lifestyles will change or that the expenses will keep going up with demand,” she said.
However, there is currently a moratorium on building in St. Maries till around 2026.
“They are developing some more infrastructure for water services, mostly for city water, the local resources are kind of tapped out, as far as that goes, “ she said.
This is causing most people to buy and build land just outside of city limits.
“Building outside of town where people can put in wells or septic, that’s a big deal,” Knapp said. “The cost of those resources have gone up too. There’s lots of challenges, no matter where people tend to build right now, but a lot of people have built successfully and have done a beautiful job.”
