Market Conditions and New Listings in Montana!

Living up near the 45th parallel, the days are growing shorter and the temperatures have been consistently dropping. My son started grid kid football last week and my friends that are Denver Broncos fans on Facebook have been chattering about Tebow and driving me nuts. Yup, Winter time must be in the air and around the corner! Most people would probably consider me nuts but I love the winter season and seasonal changes in general. I guess it always reminds me that things will always change. Perhaps next year the Raiders will get their own form of a Tebow? :o)

The market conditions here in Missoula County have declined in the past year but still remain strong in key areas with regards to the existing housing market. In the last 7 days we've had 18 new listings, 9 sold or under contract, 26 expired and 65 pending listings. The median price range of the new listings was around $235,000.

The picture gets a little more interesting when you look at the year to date numbers for our area. Year to date numbers for this time last year were hovering around 603 under contract/sold properties and this years numbers come in slightly lower at 557. Average Days on Market (ADOM) numbers have increased slightly with the average YTD showing around 117. In the last 7 days the Average Days on Market numbers came in at 147 showing a normal "end of summer" trend for the area. Time will tell over the next couple of months with regards to the ADOM number. We shall see... I've always watched this number closely as it's usually the one property owners ask me first when talking to them about listing their properties.

Western Montana is a different market than what I'm used to seeing in South Eastern Idaho. This morning I was out the door at 0800 to take my son to school and head off to a new listing appointment. I'm very surprised to see so many 2 bedroom homes on the market. The property I visited this morning was a 1300 finished square foot, 2 bedroom home with no basement. Beautiful granite counter tops adorned the kitchen and bathrooms with high quality plumbing fixtures and tile flooring throughout. Fourteen foot ceilings, canned lighting, hard wood flooring, etc... . All this in a very nice subdivision in the beginning of the Hwy 12 Valley of the Lolo National Forest on a .40 acre lot. The views are astounding and the subdivision is teaming with family life and kids. I couldn't help but ask myself, "Why would a builder build a 2 bedroom home in this area?" In my eyes, it's not the right floor plan for the area... it's going to be a tough sell... .

Order up! One CMA, well done and a listing packet on the side! I should have this one under contract in a couple of days. Pictures and descriptions to follow...

Until next time dear blog... This is Paul Griffin, signing off for Western Montana!