Housing Future?

The Cedar Pointe subdivision in Columbia Falls could be a harbinger of things to come in the Columbia Falls housing market.

The subdivision is actually an old one — it was first approved by the Columbia Falls City Council in 2003. Twenty years later, homes are still under construction in the quaint corner of the city near the Flathead River.

But Cedar Pointe has some key differences from other subdivisions and neighborhoods in the city — the owners of the homes and undeveloped vacant lots don’t appear to actually live here.

A Hungry Horse News examination of public tax records found that of the 65 lots in the subdivision, 24 had a Columbia Falls address and six had a Whitefish address. All told, 39 had Montana addresses but the remaining addresses were from out-of-state or out-of-country.

By contrast, a block away on Third Avenue West, which is a far older neighborhood in the city — shows ownership primarily by Columbia Falls residents.

The out-of-area ownership runs a wide gamut of places. For example, four are owned by people from Alberta, Canada. During the Great Recession, Alberta was one of the few places where people did fairly well, making money in the oil fields.

As such, Albertans visited the area frequently and built some of the early homes in the subdivision.

The remaining Lower 48 ownership is scattered across the states — Washington, Utah, Texas, Arizona and Virginia.

But perhaps most interesting is a Guam connection, where a company called Compadres Inc. and another company called TRI Inc. both own two lots apiece.

The Hungry Horse News spoke briefly with a former employee at Compadres who said he had visited the area and Glacier National Park, but declined to comment further. He said the two companies are sister companies. TRI Inc. is a developer in Guam and has built several subdivisions in the U.S. Territory, according to story in the Guam Post.

Cedar Pointe also appears to have significant investment properties, or at the very least, second homes.

Vacation Rental By Owner lists nine homes in the subdivision as available for rent.

Twenty years later, there are still lots for sale in Cedar Pointe. A 6,540 square foot lot is currently listed for $199,000 — or about $30.40 a square foot. Extrapolated out, that would be $1.325 million an acre.

To be sure, Cedar Pointe is an attractive subdivision. It is close to the Flathead River and it’s well laid out. Riverfront property is certainly a premium — homes that front the River on Riparian Drive also show significant of out-of-state ownership as well.

The housing market has certainly seen its shifts in the past few years, noted longtime broker Erick Robbins of Remax/Mountain View in Columbia Falls.

He said they’ve most recently seen a “smattering of both” out-of-state and local interest.

The market has eased from its racing highs during and immediately after the pandemic. The reason for high demand are many and varied he noted. For one, with better Internet in the city, people can work from almost anywhere. There’s quality of life issues, too. The region not only has the draw of Glacier National Park, it has a host of other recreational opportunities.

And, there’s politics.

“I think people moved here for political reasons,” he said. “I think that’s a reality.”

He noted that Montana is generally considered a more Conservative state.

The economy has diversified as well.

In general, he noted, the higher end homes are selling to out-of-state buyers with more financial resources, while lower end homes are being sought by locals. He notes that Columbia Falls is still a blue collar town and there are some homes available in the $350,000 to $250,000 range. Though the $250,000 home is a doublewide trailer.