Flathead real-estate market rebounding

Real estate numbers for Flathead County tell a story of an industry moving from recovery to expansion, according to two local appraisers.

Barbra Bennett of Bennett Appraisal Services and Ellie Clark of Clark Real Estate Appraisal and Consultants stepped the audience through last year’s real estate sales numbers at the annual Flathead Economic Forecast on Wednesday.

Their data was based on Kelley Appraisal’s 2013 real estate market report, which noted the Flathead market “continues to recover and is gaining momentum.”

Residential real estate sales increased 15.5 percent last year in Flathead County, with 1,539 homes sold. Though prices started to increase, the increase primarily is due a decreasing number of foreclosure properties on the market, Kelley’s report noted.

Both Kalispell and Whitefish had their highest residential real estate sales levels in 10 years.

In Kalispell the $199,000 median list price is 15 percent higher than the 2013 median sales price. The 158 current active listings represent a six-month supply. Only 7 percent of the active listings are bank-owned.

In Whitefish the $339,000 median list price is 50 percent higher than the 2013 median sales price. There are no active bank-owned listings.

The big increase in asking prices over the median home price “may be false exuberance” over an improved real estate market, Bennett said.

“There’s likely to be some downward price pressure,” she said.

Columbia Falls has 28 active listings at a $222,500 median list price; 11 percent are bank-owned. The median list price is 33 percent higher than the 2013 medial sales price.

The median list price for luxury homes — those listed at $1 million-plus — is 24 percent higher than last year’s asking price. The current 142 listings represent a three- to four-year supply of luxury homes.

There is a two- to three-year supply of commercial properties, with 176 properties currently listed.

Most properties likely will see an increase in value this year, the appraisers said.

Kelley’s report indicates the inventory of homes on the market continues to decline.

Longtime local real estate broker Paul Wachholz also noted a shortage of local listings and wondered what’s driving the low number of listings.

Clark speculated that some homeowners may be “sitting on the sidelines” as the economy continues to improve.

Bennett said some property owners may find it difficult to let go of what their homes were worth during the Flathead’s boom years that quickly ended when the national recession began about six years ago.