Summer is a popular time for real estate sales in the Flathead Valley, with the warm season showing off the best the region has to offer as well as allowing for an easier time moving a household.
But for those families or individuals seeking low- to mid-priced housing in the valley, this summer will likely prove frustrating unless the market adds more inventory.
Homes priced within the $175,000-to-$325,000 range are rare, and are typically snatched up from the market within several days, according to realtors in the Flathead.
“We’re finding that the inventory is really low in the $200,000 to $300,000 range,” Kim Barstow, a realtor with Flathead Valley Brokers, said. “We’re trying to get people on the fence about selling their homes to market them.”
It’s been an erratic year so far for the real estate market as whole, with large differences, both positive and negative, when each month is compared to the same time last year.
According to Jim Kelley, owner and senior appraiser at Kelley Appraisal, “it’s really kind of an up-and-down year.”
This year, January had an 18 percent increase in residential sales when compared to January 2015. February was almost another 18 percent increase, but was then followed with a 9 percent decrease in March.
April brought a significant change, recording 21 percent more sales than in 2015, but then May was down 8 percent when compared to last year.
Despite being the beginning of the summer season, June also looks like it will be down significantly when compared to 2015, Kelley said. Three weeks into the month this year, there were 98 sales, compared to a total of 195 in 2015.
“It’s looking to be down 30 or 40 percent in June, but that’s not certain yet,” Kelley said in an interview last week.
In previous years, as the valley continued to pull itself out of the recession, there would be a glut of housing inventory available in certain price ranges, such as the high-end properties. But that’s quickly dwindling, Barstow said.
“It is crazy. People are coming from all over. We’re getting inquiries from all over the United States,” she said. “People are actively selling and buying right now.”
Prices on homes across the valley continue to come down, and interest rates remain near their historic low levels. The recent decision from Britain to exit the European Union sent global markets into decline with world stocks losing more than $2 trillion, and will likely keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates much, according to reports from Reuters.
The Fed had intended on two rate increases this year, but economic factors such as oil prices stopped any rate hikes. Interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage have remained at around 3.7 percent, the lowest they have been in almost three years.
Barstow said the bulk of her out-of-state clients are searching in the $450,000-to-$750,000 range.
She said the most frustrating aspect about the market right now is the number of families trying to get into mid-level priced homes and how little inventory there is.
“That’s what’s discouraging,” Barstow said. “There are a lot of good people spending a lot of money on rent and want to get into a house and the inventory for that is just bad.”
The rental market is also tight with little availability, especially for families, and land values remain relatively high, Kelley noted.
It’s a buyer’s and a seller’s market right now, Barstow said, and realtors are encouraging anyone who has considered selling or homeownership to look into it.
“People think they can’t afford it, that it’s not the right time,” Barstow said. “This really is the right time.”