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2017 Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales
Year in Review
The year 2017 has drawn to a close, and we are already rushing into 2018. The La Nina weather system continues to bring above average snow to the ski areas and valleys alike for quite the winter-wonderland.
Complete sales data for 2017 have been reported, and we have summarized the Flathead Lake real estate waterfront sales below.
Total dollar volume for waterfront sales (excluding condos) was reported at just under $44M and 60 transactions. These results are up from 53 sales and $39M for the previous year of 2016.
There were three transactions in 2017 above the $2.0M mark totalling $6.9M in total sales volume up from two similar transactions the previous year totaling $4.4M. While upper tier sales on the lake are not performing as well as they should, we continue to see the trend in a positive direction.
Ten Year Sales History:
 An interesting trend to acknowledge in the graph above is the intersection of transaction count and $MM in sales volume in 2009. The average transaction size prior to the bottom of the cycle was over $1 million, while the past seven years of recovery have shown average transactions on the lake of less than the $1 million mark. The average transaction for 2017 came in just over $730k.
Prices based on a per-waterfront-foot have stabilized just over $4,200/ft for the entire lake after adjusting for improvements. These prices are still less than half of the seasonally adjusted average of $8,600/ft seen at the peak of the market in 2007.
Given the reduction in inventory of lower priced waterfront properties, we expect to see continued upward price pressure in the coming year.
Annual Sales Data:
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Sales by Area The distribution of waterfront sales around the lake remained largely unchanged from 2016 to 2017. All regions reported increases in transactions and sales volume withe the exception of the central west shore area (Dayton/Elmo/Big Arm).
Sales by Area:
 Distribution of Waterfront Sales – 2017
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Active Waterfront Listings
Residential waterfront listings for this month are on par from the number of listings for this time last year at 84 listings, up from 80. The number of land listings is down significantly to 33 from 41.
Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March.
Median list prices for residential listings have been bouncing between $1.0-$1.1M, spiking to up over $1.3M this month. With a higher percentage of properties under the $1M mark selling, the ratio of active listings above this price mark has been shifting.
Median waterfront land prices had held relatively steady in the $550-$600k range for the earlier part of this year, increasing steadily starting in August. The increase in lower-priced land sales has depleted the inventory and the remaining, higher priced listings yield a higher median price trend.
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