The month of May broke all previous records in the number of residential sales. In Flathead County there were 209 residential sales, compared to 147 in May of 2016. In 2006 there were 173 sales and 2017 exceeded that number by 21 percent.
In the first five months of this year there were 619 sales, which is up 6.7 percent from the 580 sales at this time last year. The previous high was in 2006 when there were 657 sales in the first five months.
Mortgage interest rates are up from a year ago at this time, but down slightly in the last month. The current average 15-year rate is around 3.19 percent, compared to 3.92 percent at this time a year ago. The average 30-year rate is around 3.9 percent compared to 3.7 percent in June of 2016.
In the first five months, 52.8 percent of residential sales were on small urban or suburban lots, 21.9 percent were on half-acre to three-acre lots and 14.3 percent were on three to 20-acre tracts.
The median sales price in the first five months is $266,500, which is 8.8 percent higher than the same period in 2016.
The current overall inventory level is 13 percent lower that what it was in June of 2016. The median asking price of the active listings is $474,700. Only 15.7 percent of active listings are priced at or below the median sold price of $266,500.
In the first five months there were 23 bank-owned or distressed sales, compared to 35 in 2016. Non-distressed sales represent 96.3 percent of the market, compared to 94 percent for the same period in 2016.