Experts Say Flathead Valley is Settling into a ‘Balanced and Healthy’ Real Estate Market
A rise in housing inventory and listings has added fluidity to northwest Montana’s real estate market as buyers surrender to high mortgage rates
By Maggie Dresser
Despite high mortgage rates and expensive home prices, the Flathead Valley’s real estate market is stronger than last year as the volume of inventory rises and homes spend fewer days on the market.
“Negotiations are holding consistently and sellers don’t have to drop their prices much — it’s still a balanced and healthy market,” said Aaron Noel, a realtor with Brody Broker in Kalispell. “Because there is more inventory, it puts sellers in a position that if they want to make sure it sells, they might have to do something to stand out.”
With 210 closed sales this June compared to 175 during the same month in 2025, the housing market is strong across the Flathead Valley compared to a year ago with significantly fewer days on the market, according to Montana MLS data.
In Flathead County, June’s average time on the market was 88 days compared to 93 days in June 2025. The market has not posted comparable numbers since October 2023 when there was an average of 84 days on the market.
Those numbers contradict nationwide trends, which last month showed a drop of 5.4% in pending home sales compared to May 2026, according to the National Realtors Association.
“I think people are just settling into the reality of where the market is,” Noel said, referring to homebuyers in the Flathead Valley. “In the last couple of years, people were waiting for rates to drop — but they are probably not going to drop anytime soon.”
Mortgage rates this month rose to 6.58%, the highest figure in the last year after dropping below 6% in February. Rates have hovered between 6% and 7% since the end of 2022 when Federal Reserve officials began raising the rates to tamp down on inflation following the pandemic-era housing boom.
Northwest Montana Association of Realtors (NMAR) Public Affairs Director Erica Wirtala said that while rates remain high, traditional cycles of home buying and selling are returning as buyers surrender to high mortgage rates.
“Everybody was sitting tight to see if interest rates would drop,” Wirtala said.
Wirtala said despite the rise in rates, realtors are much busier compared to last year while the value of closed sales has gone up to $194 million this June compared to $110 million last June.
“Nothing was moving,” Wirtala said. “Realtors did not have a good year — there wasn’t much movement. I just think there is more inventory now. There’s more movement now and my realtors are busy.”
Noel said correctly priced homes are selling quickly, which are seeing an average of 80 days on the market while sales entail more price negotiating than in recent years.
While multi-million-dollar properties are seeing more days on the market, reasonably priced homes such as single-family residences and townhomes are moving quickly.
Noel said his client demographics range across the spectrum with a fair volume of both out-of-state and local inquiries while first-time homebuyers are also entering the market.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median age of first-time homebuyers rose to an all-time high of 40 years old last November and makes up only 21% of buyers. Meanwhile, the median age of repeat buyers rose to an all-time high of 62 while the share of buyers with children under 18 hit a record low of 24%.
At a median sales price of $640,000 in Flathead County, Noel said the low volume of inventory under $400,000 is keeping many prospective homebuyers from entering the market.
New developments are also helping boost the Flathead Valley’s inventory. Last year in Kalispell, building permits were issued for 114 single-family units and townhomes and 406 multi-family units, totaling 520 permits, according to the 2025 Construction, Subdivision and Annexation report compiled by city officials.
But as costs rise for home builders amid tariffs and supply chain bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz, the volume of townhomes and multifamily units are increasing while single-family homes remain less affordable for many prospective buyers.
“The thing about real estate is yes, there are ebbs and flows and obviously there are cycles,” Noel said. “The reality of the Covid boom kind of offset the crash of 2008 and what we’re seeing now is more predictability. I don’t want to give those struggling no hope, but it’s just going to become harder if you’re thinking about buying or selling. It’s a healthy time to do that — it’s a good, fair market.”