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 faired 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 we 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.
At the end of this November, the national median had increased to $231,500 and Flathead County’s median had increased to $257,000, making it 11 percent higher than the national median. In the last year the national median increased 4.1 percent, while the Flathead County median increased 9.4 percent. Compared to national figures, we are no longer the good deal that we were prior to 2005.