This week let’s look at how Flathead County’s home price trend relates to other counties in Western Montana. At the peak of the market in 2007, Flathead County had the highest median home price of any of the surrounding counties. Flathead’s median was 13 percent higher than Missoula County, 4 percent higher than Lake County, 13 percent higher than Ravalli County, 35 percent higher than Lincoln County and 45 percent higher than Sanders County.
Flathead County as well as the other five counties were all affected by the recession, but Missoula and Ravalli Counties saw a lesser decline than did Flathead and the other three counties. Flathead County had an overall decline in the median home price by around 31 percent before the market turn positive, but Missoula County’s overall decline was less that 8 percent. The other four counties were all between Missoula and Flathead County.
Over the last 11 years Flathead County’s median home price has averaged 3.6 percent higher than Lake County, 44.6 percent higher than Lincoln County, 42.6 percent higher than Sanders County, 4.9 percent higher than Ravalli County and less than 1.5 percent higher than Missoula County.
In 2016, Flathead County’s median was the same as Lake County, 41.3 percent higher than Lincoln County, 42.6 percent higher than Sanders County, 4.6 percent higher than Ravalli County and around 1 percent lower than Missoula County.
Of these six counties, Flathead County had a 5.2 percent increase in the median home price, which is the smallest of these counties. Lake County had a 13.6 percent increase, Lincoln County had a 13.5 percent increase, Sanders County had a 6.3 percent increase, Ravalli County had an 8 percent increase, and Missoula County had a 7 percent increase.