Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales Report
The winter of 2019-2020 has been very mild and warm, with snow in the mountains, but not much to show on the valley floors. The skiing is fantastic, and the milder weather has kept buyers active in the market.
January started off the year strong with a $2M+ residential sale in Skidoo Bay, along with a vacant lot on Finley Point. Several additional properties on the lake are under contract or closed the first week of February highlighting the unseasonal winter activity.
We expect strong sales to continue into 2020 provided the national economy stays its course. With a seven-year low inventory of residential lakefront listings, prices should continue to rise throughout the summer season.
January Sales:
Pricing and Sales Summary:
Active Waterfront Listings
Residential waterfront listings for this month are down compared to the inventory at this time last year (73 vs 92). The number of land listings has increased from 26 to 27. Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March. The residential inventory of 73 listings marks a seven year low (72 in January of 2013) for residential 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 have climbed back to just under $1.3M.
Median waterfront land prices have not varied widely, and show an overall flat trend in the $650k to $750k range.
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.
The waterfront condo market posted 37 sales on the lake for 2019. With only 21 active condo listings, we have approximately five months of inventory currently on the market. 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.
