Report: home sales up, prices too
Standing out from the other cities of
Flathead County, Whitefish seemed to improve in its building and
home sales numbers last year.
A report from Kelley Appraisal of
Kalispell notes that 43 building permits were recorded in 2011 for
single family homes in Whitefish. In comparison, 42 permits were
issued in Kalispell, and eight were issued in Columbia Falls.
The report is compiled by Jim Kelley,
who compiles data on the building and real estate market in
northwest Montana. He periodically releases the data in detailed
reports.
The number of new home permits in
Whitefish is double the recorded 21 permits for 2010. The city
recorded 14 permits in 2009, 29 in 2008, 22 in 2007 and 60 in
2006.
The report calls Whitefish the “bright
spot” in the county with the highest number of single family units
built since 2007.
In 2010, Kalispell recorded 50 homes
and Columbia Falls had four. In addition to single-family permits,
Kalispell issued one duplex, eight townhouse and 21 multi-family
permits. Whitefish and Columbia Falls did not report any permits
other than single-family homes.
Flathead County does not issue building
permits. To estimate the new number of building permits in the
county, the report looks at the number of septic permits. In 2011,
there were 219 final septic inspections for both residential and
commercial buildings. The number of septic inspections in 2010 was
241. The report says that the number is only a guide, because a
community sewer system could have several new homes under one
septic inspection.
In home sales, the report shows the
percentage of new residential listings sold in the county is higher
than it was in 2007. Some 38.9 percent of new listings were sold in
2011, comparing with 27.9 percent in 2007.
“This is a good sign that suggests that
the residential market is gaining strength,” the report notes.
The number of sales was up 2.4 percent
in Whitefish city limits.
The median price for sales inside
Whitefish city limits increased 7.3 percent in 2011. This comes
after three years of decreasing median sales prices. Median sales
prices in 2009 dropped by 20.6 percent and then 10.5 percent in
2010.
Within three-and-a-half miles of the
city limits, the number of sales was up 0.9 percent. This is after
the number of sales was up 37.6 percent in 2010.
The median price for sales increased by
9.1 percent for the Whitefish area outside of city limits.
In Columbia Falls, the number of home
sales was up, but the median price declined by 30 percent, falling
for the third straight year. The report notes that 63 percent of
the sales were bank-owned properties.
Kalispell saw the number of sales
decrease 10.6 percent. Within three-and-a-half miles of the city
limits, sales decreased 2.9 percent.
The Kelley report also included
foreclosure data from the Flathead County courthouse. Notices of
trustee’s sale, which must be recorded 120 days prior to an actual
trustee’s sale, were down almost 20 percent. The number of
trustee’s sale notices have increased every year from 2005 through
2010.
The actual number of trustee sale
foreclosures that have occurred over the last five years continued
to increase. In 2011 there were 481 sales, up 22.4 percent from 393
in 2010.
Trustee sales numbers include all types
of real estate, not just residential properties.