Record homes sales come with record high prices

Flathead County had record home sales in 2017, according to a report by Jim Kelley of Kelley Appraisals in Kalispell, and the price of homes continues to go up and up.

In 2017, the county set a new record in the number of home sales with 1,882 homes sales reported, compared to 1,680 in 2016, Kelley found. The median price finished at $275,000, which is 7.8 percent above the 2016 median of $255,000. The 2017 median of $275,000 is also the highest median price for any year that has ever been recorded in Flathead County, Kelley noted.

According to calculations by the Hungry Horse News, a $275,000 home at 4 percent interest with 5 percent down will cost about $1,247, excluding property taxes and insurance. Property taxes and insurance add roughly $300 to $400 more per month, depending on assessments and where the home is located.

Kelley also noted that the market is starting to outpace what people can afford.

Columbia Falls had 88 homes sales in the city limits, down 10 from the previous year of 98. The median home price was $215,000. The city is running out of lots.

It had just nine homes for sale in January, compared to 10 last year and 31 in January of 2016.

The price of Columbia Falls homes is also shooting up. In January of 2018, the average price was $293,000 and the median was $297,000. In 2011, by contrast, the median home price in the city was just $100,000 as the housing market bottomed out and foreclosures were commonplace. Home prices have more than doubled in the city in the past six years and, if the January median holds true for the entirety of 2018, they will have tripled.

Homes within 3.5 miles of Columbia Falls have also shot up. The median price last year was $265,000 and the average price was $290,000. There were 195 home sales, the most since the housing boom a decade ago, when 212 homes were sold in the Columbia Falls area.

In January 2018, there were 40 homes on the market in the Columbia Falls area, with the median at $385,000 and the average at $495,000.

But Columbia Falls is still more affordable compared to Whitefish and Bigfork.

In the Whitefish city limits, the median price was $340,000 and the average price was $437,000 in 2017.

Within 3.5 miles, the Whitefish average was $485,000 and the median was $340,000.

In Bigfork, within five miles of Electric Avenue, the average was $421,039 while the median was $327,000.

Kalispell city limits had the most affordable housing, with an average price of $237,000 and the median price of $230,000. Even so, that’s a 11.2 percent increase over last year.