Gillians’s Blog & REsources Portal: A Source for Buyers and Sellers of Montana Real Estate

Since the Livingston Enterprise ran it’s front page article on the increase in foreclosure sales in Park County, I’ve had several calls asking me if I anticipate that home prices will continue to fall in the area.

There’s no questions that bank owned properties often sell for less than others, and that at times, these properties will inevitably be used as comparable sales by bank appraisers.

However, many of the homes currently on the market are owned by people who are not desparate to sell, and so will likely not respond to offers based on information from distress sales.

I think that there will be a further evening out of pricing in those properties that have been overpriced for a couple of years, and who finally are getting in step with current pricing.

However, the negative aspects of our market are more than offset by several very particular conditions: interest rates are still at an all time low; prices are affordable; the tax credit runs through till April. In many ways, it is a perfect storm for buyers, and our market activity certainly refelects that a lot of people understand that: we have had 65 closed sales in Park County in the last six months, with an average sales price of $238,000 — bear in mind that’s going from the least expensive sale of $39,000 to the most expensive at $2,800,000.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that most people therefore are willing to pay over $200,000 for a property here — that number is just a broad stroke. But what it does mean is that over ten people a month are saying “Yes, I believe in this community and I want to live here.” Compare that to many other parts of the country, and we see that depsite some foreclosures, despite prices still adjusting from the sellers’ market of ‘06, we continue to have what people want: an extraordinary community, great beauty all around us, and affordable real estate! Call me Pollyanna, but I think we are going to have agreat year!