The 47th Annual Economic Outlook Seminar came to Bozeman, Montana again this month and the big topic of discussion this year was "Where Housing is Headed: How Will Today's Imbalances Be Resolved?", which aligns itself almost too well into the bigger questions we have been asking ourselves in the real estate industry. The single day in-person and virtual meeting was once again chock full of industry and economic experts on both a state and national level who served as guest speakers to attendees. Topics presented and discussed included health care, tourism and recreation, agriculture, the forest industry, tech startups, and an energy investment update by Northwestern Energy.

"Things that can’t go on forever usually don’t. But if you are millennial waiting for housing prices to crash so you can buy a home, you might have a long wait. The notion that today’s housing price situation is a bubble waiting to break is belied by the fact that housing prices have increased faster than median income almost anywhere for more than 20 years – that includes most places in Montana. So where is housing going? It’s a critical question being faced by communities everywhere as sky-high housing costs have affected everything from labor markets to public services. That’s why we’ve returned to a focus on housing as a theme for the 2022 Economic Outlook Seminar – to try to understand where we are going and what action steps we can take to get to a better place." -economicoutlookseminar.com

"In 2021, Montana had the highest net inflow of moves per capita,

with 73% of moves inbound. Billings was the #1 destination with a 3.9 to 1 inbound

to outbound ratio." - Tom Gierhan

As always, ERA Landmark looks forward to attending this seminar each year to see trends and projections in the real estate industry, this year being even more so informational. Tom Gierhan, our managing broker in our Livingston office, attended the seminar, and here are a few of his takeaways, "I took away some very compelling stats that really stood out to me and our industry. What I found interesting is that investors have a higher percentage of market share ownership than ever before. Surprisingly, housing costs in Gallatin County are at 55.2% of the median household income. The GDP had some interesting information as well. There was a huge disparity between output and demand. People weren't working during the pandemic so the supply of goods went down dramatically. At the same time, government stimulus money kept spending alive and demand stayed high. In 2021, Montana had the highest net inflow of moves per capita, with 73% of moves inbound. Billings was the #1 destination with a 3.9 to 1 inbound to outbound ratio."

At the end of the day, we are seeing a lot of activity in all realms of real estate. If you are curious to see how Southwest Montana fared in 2021, we recently published our Market Analysis highlighting statistics relevant to our area. When it comes to purchasing or selling real estate in Bozeman, Big Sky, Livingston, or Ennis, Montana, trust your local ERA Landmark agent to help you succeed.