Flathead Lake Real Estate – March 2019 Sales
The winter of 2019 that arrived the first week of February was one of the more severe winters on the books. The affect on real estate sales both on and off the water was evident, as sales in March were sparse. Now that the snow has melted and the ice has broken on Flathead Lake, buyers have begun to show up to start looking at properties coming out of the arctic thaw.
Waterfront sales for March were limited to a single residential sale. Although we are coming out of a record sales year in 2018, the slower start in the winter months is not totally unexpected. Inventories jumped up a bit relative to last year which will work to temper price increases that would typically accompany the higher sales volume.
Over the next 30-60 days we will be watching closely as new listings come on the market to see how Flathead Lake real estate will shape up for 2019.
March Sales:
Prices based on a per-waterfront-foot have continued to increase to around $4,000/ft for the entire lake after adjusting for improvements in the past few years.
Annual Sales Data:
Active Waterfront Listings
Residential waterfront listings for this month are up compared to the inventory at this time last year (93 vs 87). The number of land listings has decreased from 31 to 23. Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March.
With the increased activity in waterfront sales, more owners have decided it is the time to sell and are listing their properties. As a result, listing inventory for residential waterfront properties remains higher over last year even as it should be diminishing with increased sales.
Median list prices for residential listings rose steadily throughout 2018. Prices peaked at $1.6M at the end of the year as inventory dropped with increased sales. As new inventory has come on the market over the first quarter, prices have settled back to just under $1.5M.
Median waterfront land prices held steady for most of 2018, showing a $150k spike this month due to a few high priced listings and meager inventory.
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 since the first of the year.
The waterfront condo market is posted 31 sales on the lake last year. With 46 active condo listings, we have approximately 15 months of inventory currently on the market. This is down from highs over the past few years where we saw as much as a three to four year inventory on the market.
Sold prices continue to move upwards, and listing prices downward to meet realistic market values. This has resulted in an increase of sales – especially in the Bigfork market.
