Community News

If there's a silver lining to the cloud that is the recession, it is that homebuyers in Gallatin County can take advantage of lower home prices and mortgage rates. Bottom line: If you've ever considered buying a home, there may never be a better time than now.

It's no secret that residential real estate prices have plummeted in Gallatin County in the past few years.

According to statistics kept by the Gallatin Association of Realtors, between 2008 and 2009, the median price for a single-family residence in Gallatin County dropped from $285,850 to $258,225 -- a decrease of about 9.7 percent. At the height of the housing bubble here in 2006, the median price for a single-family home in Gallatin County was $310,000 -- nearly 40 percent more than the $189,000 median price tag just three years prior in 2003.

That deflated real estate bubble appears to have prompted Gallatin County denizens -- many of whom were previously renters -- to buy homes, people in the business say.

"Entry-level homes can offer a monthly payment lower than rent for a lot of people," said real estate agent Denise Andres with ERA Landmark.

"Interest rates are shockingly low," she said. "But, on the other hand, people have to be confident of their jobs."

Read the entire article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.