With half of 2017 officially in the books, real estate in the Flathead Valley continues to be an active market, with the most residential sales since the boom times of the early 2000s.
According to Jim Kelley at Kelley Appraisal, there were 822 residential sales from January through June of 2017, an 11 percent increase from the 740 in the same timeframe last year. The last time residential sales topped more than 800 was in 2006, which saw 897 sales in the same time period.
The median housing price in Flathead County so far for 2017 is at $269,000, more than 5 percent higher than 2016’s overall median price of $255,000 and more than 9 percent higher than the median price for houses sold from January through June in 2016, which came in at $246,637.
Kelley also broke down specific areas and neighborhoods, and the real estate activity within them:
Kalispell – the city and land within 3.5 miles of city limits
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 372
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 344
Percent increase: 8.1%
Total residential sales in 2016: 749
Median price, first half 2017: $239,000
Median price, all of 2016: $220,000
Percent increase: 8.6%
Whitefish – the city and land within 3.5 miles of city limits
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 177
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 133
Percent increase: 33.1%
Total residential sales in 2016: 290
Median price, first half of 2017: $343,000
Median price, all of 2016: $334,500
Percent increase: 2.5%
Columbia Falls – the city and land within 3.5 miles of city limits
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 79
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 78
Percent increase: 1.3%
Total residential sales in 2016: 168
Median price, first half of 2017: $265,000
Median price, all of 2016: $213,501
Percent increase: 24.1%
Bigfork – village and 5 miles from center of community
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 62
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 50
Percent increase: 24%
Total residential sales in 2016: 147
Median price, first half of 2017: $307,500
Median price, all of 2016: $300,000
Percent increase: 2.5%
Lakeside – town and 5 miles from its center
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 31
Residential sales from first half of 2016: 41
Percent decrease: -24.4%
Total residential sales in 2016: 82
Median price, first half of 2017: $300,000
Median price, all of 2016: $277,500
Percent increase: 8.1%
Flathead Lake – lakefront property in Flathead and Lake counties
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 22
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 27
Percent decrease: -18.5%
Total residential sales in 2016: 53
Median price, first half of 2017: $611,500
Median price, all of 2016: $599,000
Percent increase: 2.1%
Whitefish Lake – lakefront homes and condos
Residential sales in first half of 2017: 7
Residential sales in first half of 2016: 4
Percent increase: 75%
Total residential sales in 2016: 12
Median price, first half of 2017: $1,900,000
Median price, all of 2016: $1,612,500
Percent increase: 17.8%