Thanks for your comment, Mike, but tell me why you disagree…

This blog thing takes some getting used to, in terms of allocating time to actually write! The market here in Park County is very busy right now — it’s almost as though someone threw a switch at the beginning of this week, and everyone who has been wondering about whether or not they should buy something this summer is out looking!

Check back tomorrow for Livingston’s cutest vintage home, just reduced to $149,000.

I recently listed a couple of sweet little Victorian era (c1900) one bedroom, one bath homes at 417 & 419 North B Street. 417 is listed at $92,000 & 419 at $87,000. To find them, go on Main Street through the underpass in town, turn right on Chinook, turn left onto North B, and the houses are up a little on the left hand side. They’re old, and need some work but could be very cute, either as a first time home, or to resell at a profit. There’s a really pretty yard at the back, and they are on a quiet cul-de-sac …

Oops, sorry, only one is available now — 417 just sold! It’s virtually impossible to find anything under $100,000 in Livingston, so call me immediately if you’d like to take a look!

Another great fixer listing is located at 306 South K Street… it’s been empty for a while, & so looks a little tired & definitely needs some work but it’s on the up-&-coming East side of town, where a lot of small,older homes have been renovated, and is on a sweet lot with some lovely, older trees. At $129,000, it’s one of the least expensive homes in the Livingston real estate market. This one’s vacant & easy to show! Check back tomorrow for my weekly update on all the last week’s listings & sales.

Right now, everyone has an opinion about the real estate market; national media coverage of the drop in prices in various parts of the country has put everyone a little on edge, and every day I’m asked how our market is, here in southwest Montana.

So instead of just another opinion, here are the facts about the market in first five months of the year in Park County. I’ve compared these first months of ‘07 to January through May in ‘06. Information is taken from the Gallatin Association of Realtors MLS.

So far this year, we have had 37 closings for single family home sales on one acre or less, with an average list price of $203,000 and an average sales price of $195,000, while for the same period in 2006 there were 64 closings, with an average sales price of $175,000 — prices appear to have risen by about 10% in this category, but the number of sales has dropped over 60%.

As far as the out-of-town residential market goes, so far this year there have been 15 sales for properties with one or or more acres. The average list price of these properties is $503,000, with an average sales price of $472,000. In 2006, there were 17 closings by this time, and the average sales price was higer by 5% at $497,000.

One of the biggest changes is in the number of townhomes/condos that have sold this year: from January to May ‘06 4 sales were recorded, with an average price of $139,000 — this year, there has been a total of 16 closed sales, with an average price of $165,000 — a jump of almost 20% in price.

So what does this mean to buyers & sellers in Park County? It means that if you’re a seller, your property must be priced competitively to have a chance of selling. As of today, there are 105 homes on less than an acre on the market in Park County, with an average list price of $226,000. That’s a lot of competition.

If you’re a buyer, do these statistics mean that it’s a buyer’s market? Not entirely. This year, homes have been selling within about 4% of the listing price — a good indication that Park County’s market is strong.

Interested in a set of statistics that I haven’t presented here? Let me know.

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