DAVID FETVEIT

Real Estate Broker

by on

Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales – April 2017

Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales
 
April Sales
The Flathead Valley continues to feel the lingering effects of one of the more significant winters in recent history.  With record snowfall and colder temperatures, we maintained snow at lake level until the end of March.  While the weather seemed to hold off the typical spring activity around the lake, it seems to all be catching up at once now that the sun has emerged.  Listings are flooding into the market and five sales were reported in MLS.
Sales reported to date have shown a bit of resistance at the $1M mark, but the expectations based on pending sales around the lake are likely to change this trend by mid-summer.  Buyer traffic has increased for the higher priced segments, and optimism is high for the Flathead Lake real estate sales in general.
April Sales:
 
Prices based on a per-waterfront-foot have stabilized at just over $4,000/ft for the entire lake after adjusting for improvements in the past few years.
Half of this year’s sales in the upper west shore region are contributing to the higher year-to-date average this year highlighting the premium value of the Northwest region of the lake relative to the overall average.
Given the reduction in inventory, we expect to see some continued upward price pressure this year.
Annual Sales Data:

Active Waterfront Listings

Residential waterfront listings for this month are down from the number of listings for this time last year at 100 listings, down from 113.  The number of land listings is also down to 37 from 43.

Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March.  Not many land sales have been posted (only 6 out of 53 sales for last year), so land listings are holding steady while the number of residential listings are down more significantly.  The snow cover and colder temperatures have delayed our spring inventory, and our current May numbers are more typical of what we see in April.

Median list prices for residential listings have been bouncing between $1.0-1.1M.  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 have held relatively steady in the $550-$600k 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 since the first of the year.

 

 

With the number of affordable single-family properties on the lake under $1M dropping, condos were a viable option for buyers last year.  More waterfront condos were sold last year than in each the past 3 years by an average of 25%.  We expect this trend to continue through 2017.