All of us who live in the Flathead know that there have been dramatic increases in home prices over that last 25 years. This graph takes a look at how we have fared with the rest of the nation. In 1990 home values in the Flathead were around 34 percent below the national median at $63,500 compared to $96,400 nationally. The Flathead was a relatively good deal over the next 15 years with our median home price averaging around 16 percent lower than the national median home price. In 2005 our prices matched the national median at around $220,000 and since then our prices have been higher than the national median by an average of 11 percent. Nationally, the median home values peaked in 2006 at $221,900 and the Flathead County peak was in 2007 at $250,000. As of the end of October, the Flathead County median is around 7 percent higher than the national median home price. Compared to national figures, we are no longer the good deal that we were prior to 2005.
In 1981, Jim started Kelley Appraisal in Kalispell and has since built an extensive database of economic and real estate-related data on northwestern Montana. Over the last several years, he has published annual reports on the Flathead Real Estate Market and been a guest speaker on numerous occasions for various groups in the Flathead.