| Flathead Valley Real Estate Sales Report
Residential sales begin to flatten; land sales see activity
We are well into the heat of summer in the Flathead. We have had as much sunshine in July as we had rain in June, making for a green and lush valley. Our summer visitors have been finding ways to keep cool in our area lakes and visits up to the melting snow in Glacier National Park.
Residential sales have continued to flatten out during the 2nd quarter of this year as inventories have been declining over the past 12 months. Prices have held relatively steady with a marginal increase in median price compared to Q2 2013.
The increasing trend for land sales we reported in the first quarter of this year have continued. Sales volume is up 13% over last year, averaging nearly $10M per month in sales. Median prices have also continued their climb with a 53% increase over median sales prices last year. This is more likely due to higher priced lots that have begun to sell and not an increase in price for the same properties.
Commercial sales have also shown a significant increase in this most recent quarter with strides in both volume and median prices.
Total Residential Sales from NMAR MLS
Sales by Segment
 As you can see in the graph below, the growth trends of 2012-2013 have begun to flatten out for the first half of this year.
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Impact of Distressed Properties on Local Market
Distressed sales continue to play a role in our local market, but not nearly as significant as in the past 3 years. Annual sales of distressed homes dropped by 16 points between 2012 and 2013, and the trend is generally holding. Another good sign in the distressed sales segment is the market’s relatively low inventory of bank-owned properties. Based on our current absorption rate, there is less than three months’ inventory of bank-owned residential listings currently on the market compared to a healthy 6 month inventory for the overall residential market.
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