Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales
Sales numbers for 2020 remain up significantly over past years, due mostly to the record first quarter sales prior to the COVID-19-induced shut downs. There were two sales reported in April, one land sale in Dayton, and a significant sale in Lakeside.
A handful of contingent sales over the $1M mark fell out of contract and came on the market during the month, with at least two deals falling victim to mortgage underwriters halting jumbo loan originations.
While there is general agreement that the Montana real estate market overall will see increased demand as a result of the pandemic, the unanswered question remains, “How many buyers will have the means to purchase?”
With the economy headed for a recession as a result of government-mandated shut downs, lenders tightening their lending restrictions, and unstable real estate trends in feeder markets, there is reason to believe the buying power in our local market will be somewhat diminished.
Even with a subset of waterfront buyers now eliminated by economic uncertainty, we have seen an increase in foot traffic by cash buyers that have remained liquid through the economic crisis. As with just about everything regarding the shut-down, we will know much more over the next 30 to 60 days as we keep an eye on new inventory and sales and await for travel restrictions to be lifted.
April Sales:
Pricing and Sales Summary:
Significant Sale
Angel Point Estate – Lakeside
330 Feet of Flathead Lake Frontage
2.48 Acres; 4,780 SF
List Price: $2,100,000
Stunning Flathead Lake estate on 330 feet of private Angel Point frontage and 2.5 acres. Paved access leads to main home featuring over 4,500 sf of elegant design with great room and three complete suites. Frontage features unique rock outcroppings and a portion of the pebble beach.
Active Waterfront Listings
Residential waterfront listings for this month are down compared to the inventory at this time last year (81 vs 101). The number of land listings has held steady at 25. Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March. The residential inventory on the lake continues to hover around record low territory. The combination of increased sales over the past 18 months along with the current crisis has led to low inventory.
Median list prices for residential listings dropped during the spring and early summer months as lower priced listings came on the market. After bottoming out around $1.1M, they rose to the $1.3-$1.4M range, only to drop again with the sale of several high priced listings in the first quarter.
Inventories and prices of waterfront land have held relatively steady for the past 12 months.
Flathead Lake Condominium Market
With over a dozen waterfront condominium communities around Flathead Lake, there are plenty of options for buyers who want the waterfront lifestyle without having to worry about maintaining a lake home. Below is a list of all of the current condo listings for the various communities around the lake, along with a report of total sold units and average prices for the year.
With 29 active condo listings, we have approximately nine months of inventory currently on the market based on the 13 sales since the first of the year. This is a significant decrease from last year when we were carrying as much as 24 months of inventory.
Once single family prices began to rise with a decrease in inventory, the demand for condominiums began to increase. We expect to see this trend continue into the coming year as both residential and condo inventories are down significantly.
