Community News

It is relatively easy to find lots of good news about our local, regional, and national real estate market.  Trend lines are all heading in the right direction for a robust 2013.  Most of the nation has experienced two full years of recovery.  Here is what happened locally.  This recap is a comparison of 2012 to 2011 sales information using the Southwest Montana Multiple Listing Service (SWMLS) as the source.  

 Within the city of Bozeman, single-family home sales increased by 23%.  There were 433 single-family homes sold in 2012, compared to 353 in 2011.  There was a large jump to 337 condo/ townhomes sold in 2012 which equaled 32% growth over the 256 sales in 2011.  The average sales prices for single-family homes also showed a glimpse of recovery with a 7% increase to $293,575 in 2012 from $273,817 in 2011, while attached housing declined 2% from an average of $169,761 in 2011 to $167,063 in 2012.  The median sales price was $255,000 for single-family homes, up 6% from $240,000 in 2011, and $151,999 for condo/ townhomes, up 1% from 2011.   
 
Once again the supply of homes within Bozeman continues to decline, down an additional 22% at year-end compared to the prior year.  At the end of 2012, there were 106 active residential properties listed for sale compared to 136 in 2011 and 279 at the end of 2007, which has long since been considered the peak.  Homes that are priced under $350,000 are selling quite well.  Based on the current supply and the number of homes sold in this price range in the last 12 months, there is less than a 3 1/2-month supply of inventory.  
 
The subdivisions and rural areas immediately surrounding Bozeman also had healthy growth with single-family sales up from 246 units in 2011 to 306 in 2012, a 24% increase. The average sales price showed a 9% increase from $371,178 in 2011 to $404,181 in 2012, as well as a 14% median price jump from $288,500 in 2011 to $329,950 in 2012.  This area contains both price extremes of properties from entry-level housing to the luxury second home market.  
 
Belgrade and the surrounding market showed a 5% increase with 182 single-family homes sold in 2011 versus 191 in 2012.  The average sales price increased a slight 1% from $196,431 in 2011 to $198,930 in 2012.  The condo/ townhome market stayed relatively flat with 48 sales in 2012 compared to 49 in 2011, and with an average sales price up 10% to $86,472 in 2012 from $78,580 in 2011.  In the Belgrade area, the supply of homes available for sale decreased by 40% during that same time comparison, with only 46 homes available at the closing of 2012.
 
Within the Manhattan/ Three Forks region, single-family home sales increased 26% from 65 sales in 2011 to 82 in 2012.  The average sales price rose slightly from $207,413 to $209,318, while the median increased 4% to $179,500.    
 
Big Sky, including Gallatin Canyon and West Yellowstone, once again showed market gains with a 14% increase in sales of single-family homes sold from 64 in 2011 to 73 in 2012.  However, the average sales price decreased from $955,812 in 2011 to $790,777 in 2012, and the median price dipped from $552,000 to $535,000. Condo/townhome sales fell to 118 sold units in 2012 versus 137 units in 2011.  There was an average price increase from $298,714 in 2011 to $310,831 in 2012.  
 
The market in Livingston and surrounding Park County showed a 13% increase in sales with 169 single-family homes sold in 2012 compared to 150 in 2011.  The average sales price decreased from $230,692 in 2011 to $213,646 in 2012.  Condo/ townhome sales in Livingston rose from 16 to 17 units in 2012 yet with an average price increase from $95,706 to $122,420.
 
After vacant land sales remained flat from 2010 to 2011, last year the number of sales nearly doubled while combining all areas from 292 parcels in 2011 to 569 in 2012.    Bozeman sales within the city limits were up 171% from 76 sales in 2011 to 206 in 2012, with average sales prices increasing from $75,725 to $78,606.  Rural Bozeman increased 118% from 92 to 201 sales units with an average sales price rising from $140,827 to $159,776.  Belgrade land sales stayed mostly stable falling only from 20 to 16, yet the average price dropped from $205,635 to $164,862.  Manhattan and Three Forks edged up from 47 to 49 sales units with a large increase in average price up to $77,372 in 2012 from $42,745 the previous year.  The Big Sky area showed an 81% jump from 32 to 58 sales, yet a decrease in average price from $375,142 to $271,825.  Park County saw the sales units increase from 25 to 39, with the average price rising from $240,284 in 2011 to $305,459.  Two points to keep in mind are that with low total sales numbers in some of these markets, either one very large or one very small sale can skew the average sales price tremendously, and there are all types of acreage included in these totals from city lots to large parcels.