|
Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales
February Sales
The winter wonderland of the Flathead is giving way to sunny days as spring arrives in the Northwest. The ski areas are still holding significant snowfall and are expected to remain open for as long as skiers will come.
The busier than usual winter traffic along with an improving economy appear to be contributing to a good start to the Flathead Lake real estate market for 2018.
There were two reported sales on Flathead Lake for the month; one residential sale in Polson, and a vacant land sale in Lakeside. The early spring activity is increasing, and we are optimistic for a strong year in Flathead Lake real estate sales.
February Sales:
 Prices based on a per-waterfront-foot have continued to increase to over $4,000/ft for the entire lake after adjusting for improvements in the past few years. We expect to see this trend continue as we move through the year.
Given the reduction in inventory, we also expect to see continued upward price pressure.
Annual Sales Data:
 |
|
Active Waterfront Listings
Residential waterfront listings for this month are down from 86 at the same time last year to 79 active listings. This marks the lowest number of active residential listings on the lake in the past five years. The number of land listings is down as well from 35 to 31 over the same period. Total listings on the lake historically peak in August and bottom out between January and March.
As a result of the reduced inventory, median list prices for residential listings have risen dramatically for three consecutive months from an average of $1.0-$1.1M to $1.45M 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 last year, increasing steadily starting in August. The new normal seems to have settled in just under $800k. The increase in lower-priced land sales has depleted the inventory and the remaining, higher priced listings have resulted in an increased median price trend.
  |
