The largest demand in the land market continues to be for small residential building sites. In Flathead County, small building lots make up 26 percent of the market, compared to 43 percent in Missoula County and 13 percent in Lake County. One half to three-acre lots make up 34 percent of the market in Flathead County, compared to 26 percent in Missoula County and 41 percent in Lake County.
On a broader scale, 84 percent of the land sales in Flathead County are smaller than 10 acres. In Missoula County, 84 percent of land sales are 10 acres or less and 74 percent in Lake County are in that same category.
As to supply, there is 25 months inventory of half-acre or less lots in Flathead County, compared to 15 months in Missoula County and 78 months of inventory in Lake County. In the 3.1 to 5-acre category, there are 19 months of inventory in Flathead County, 19 months of inventory in Missoula County and 44 months of inventory in Lake County.
Considering all classes and sizes of land, there are 21 months of inventory in Flathead County, 22 months in Missoula County and 38 months in Lake County.
In raw numbers, there were 573 land sales in the last 12 months in Flathead County compared to 277 in Missoula County and 143 in Lake County. Although there were only half as many land sales in Missoula County as Flathead County, there is also substantially less inventory of land that is on the market.