The Flathead is precious in so many ways, as attested by both those who keep coming and those who stay. Prices are up, choices and days from listing to contract are abysmally small, and scarce new listings (single-family residences listed for $150,000 to $799,999) keep driving buyer competition.
A few months back, we studied the quantity of new listings by calendar month. Let’s add statistics through July 2021 (see chart), which will likely only endear the few prospective sellers. July through December of last year, there were increasing quantities of new listings hitting the market each month, compared to the prior years. January and March of this year, however, we saw a pull back from the trend, with fewer new listings added – like HALF (March 2021 vs. 2020). The months of May through July this year bluntly continue this abatement, by 33%, 32% and 42%, respectively. Those numbers are way beyond “statistically significant.” People are holding onto what is precious …
Richard Dews is CEO of Glacier Flathead Real Estate, a Flathead-based real estate software and services company.