Where are our buyers coming from?
Feb 15th, 2008 by Gillian
Where do people who buy real estate in Park County come from? This is a question I am often asked, especially by my clients who are selling property. At ERA Western Land, because it help us know how to target our advertising, we track the demographic information given to us by the buyers of ourlistings as carefully as possible.
In 2007, 52% of all buyers were considered local (which means Livingston, Clyde Park, Wilsall, and Emigrant). 11% were from Bozeman/ Belgrade and 10% were from other locations within Montana.
Outside of Montana’s borders, we saw 9% from the Pacific time zone, 2% from the Mountain zone, 7% from the Central zone, 8% from the Eastern zone, and 1% from out of the country.
We also ask how a purchaser plans to use the property they are buying. 91% of our company’s sales in 2007 were owner occupied. Investment properties comprised 7% of the closed sales, and only 2% were purchased as a second home. Just looking at the buyers I have been working with since the beginning of the year — people from Colorado, Oregon, New York & New England — I think it’s likely this number is going to increase.
Similar data from our Bozeman office shows that 63% of the buyers in 2007 were Local, 9.3% were from within Montana’s borders, 10.5% were from the Pacific time zone, 6.7% from the Mountain time zone, 6% from the Eastern time zone, 4.1% from the Cental time zone, and .5% were foreign buyers.
The Gallatin County market breaks down quite differently in terms of how the purchased property is to be used: 78% of the residential purchases in 2007 were owner occupied, with 11.6% used as investment property and 10.4% being purchased as second homes — I anticipate that Park County’s numbers in the second home market will begin to trend in this way.
It’s Friday in Livingston, and for those of you don’t live here, you may be surprised at what we get up to for fun in this quiet little town … I’m heading off now to the annual Chocolate Lover’s Party at the Depot, an event that gives all of us good reason to gorge on all kinds of chocolate desserts with a clear conscience as it’s a Rotary fund raiser.
Last night was an “adults only” Valentine’s Day bash at the Danforth Gallery on Main Street — another fundraiser — this time for Park County Friends of the Arts. The Gallery was slightly more packed than usual, perhaps because along with the fine art on the walls, there were three naked ladies being painted by three local artists. Check out one of my favourite sites artsmontana.com for a detailed description of the evening’s festivities. If these two events alone don’t make you want to move to Montana, I don’t know what will!
