Flathead Lake Real Estate Sales
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Flathead Lake Real Estate 2024 Annual Sales Report The 2024 Flathead Lake real estate market placed third for all-time annual waterfront sales volume. This represents an uptick from two years of falling sales after the peak of 2021. There were a total of 37 reported sales and just under $120M in total sales volume for the year. This is a 16% increase in transactions and a 44% increase in total volume compared to 2023. The primary driver of the increased volume was higher priced sales, with eight closed transactions in excess of $5M. This drove the average sales price in 2024 to over $3.2M for waterfront property. While rising interest rates and inflationary pressures have imposed a cooling effect on the primary residential market, the luxury waterfront segment continues to be buoyed by low inventory and sustained demand. December 2024 Sales: |
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Pricing and Sales Summary:
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The annualized segmentation of sales is represented in the table and graph below. The majority of transactions fell into the sub-$2 million range while there was a relatively equal distribution of transactions in the higher segments. There were a total of eight transactions over the $5M mark, necessitating the further delineation of $10M+ sales, of which there were three. |
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The table below compares transactions and sales volume for the past two years as distributed across our waterfront communities. Bigfork and Polson showed growth in both transactions and volume. The northwest quadrant held steady, and the lower west shore reported a reduction in both metrics. |
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Annual transactions and sales volume are graphed below. For the 15 years leading up the pandemic, the average transaction hovered around $1M for waterfront properties. The dramatic spike in sales beginning in 2020 are punctuated by the additional increase in average prices ($3.2M for 2024). As a result, 2024 ranks as third highest for sales volume, but fourth lowest for transactions over the past 20 years. |
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Active Waterfront Listings
Residential and land waterfront inventory continues to hold at record low levels. The combination of record sales over the past 48 months along with lack of motivation for sellers to give up their Montana real estate continues to put downward pressure on inventory.
Residential listings ticked down to 30 this month, and the combined land and residential listing total of 37 listings is significantly down when compared to the pre-Covid era market. In January of 2020 we were carrying 107 total listings on the lake. However, we are carrying more inventory than last year when there were only 26 lakefront residential listings available.
Median residential prices rose to over $3.5M by the end of the first quarter due to a lack of inventory and high-priced listings. As the year went on, lower priced listings introduced to the market dropped the median price to around $3.25M once again where it has stabilized. Land prices spiked up to $2M with a few high priced listings on the market and ended the year just over $1.5M.
Based on these data, it appears we have reached a plateau in prices even with a slight uptick in inventory and closed transactions over 2023. |
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Flathead Lake Condominium Market
With nearly two dozen waterfront condominium communities around Flathead Lake, there has historically been plenty of options for buyers who want the waterfront lifestyle without having to worry about maintaining a lake home. Below is a summary of currently active and sold units so far this year. The condo market has followed the single-family waterfront market to record low inventories and increasing prices.
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