In 2017 the overall median price of sold residential properties in Flathead County is currently $275,000. This means that half the sales are lower and half are higher than that median price.
This week’s graph shows the distribution of current listings and the last 12 months of sales by price range. Of the 1,848 sales in the last 12 months, 19 percent sold in the price range between $100,000 and $200,000, compared to 27 percent in 2016. At this time there are 1,032 residential listings and only 4 percent are priced in that $100,000 to $200,000 range, compared to 6 percent at end of 2016. With 351 sales in this price range and a current inventory of 42 listing, this means that there is currently 44 days of inventory, making this price range a seller’s market.
As we move up into the $1 million to $2 million dollar range, we find that this price range only accounts for 2 percent of the sales, but 14 percent of the current listings are in this price range. With only 30 sales in the last year and 147 current listings, this tells us that there is currently around 59 months of inventory of homes in the $1 million to $2 million dollar range. This segment of the market continues to be a buyer’s market.
As you can see in the graph, the existing housing inventory goes from one-and-a-half months for homes priced $100,000 to $200,000 and up to 59 months for homes priced over $1 million. Currently, there are 75 $2-million-plus homes on the market, but there were only 17 sales in the last year.
On a broader scale, there is currently around 3.6 months of inventory for homes priced under $400,000, making this price range a seller’s market. For homes priced over $400,000, there is currently 18.2 months of inventory, putting these higher priced homes in a buyer’s market.
The market is generally quite smart and pricing is key to getting homes sold. This is especially true in the higher price ranges because there are a lot of sellers competing for a relative few number of buyers.