Montana Realtors Disagree Over Health of Housing Market

A Montana real estate broker in Bitterroot Valley said Wednesday that the housing market in the valley softened more than the Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors suggested.

According to the Missoulian, the Board of Realtors executive officer, Layna Lyons, earlier said the market slowed slightly during the summer, but the overall real estate market looked healthy.

On Wednesday, she maintained that position. But Bill Zader, broker and owner of Western Montana Realty Group, said the drop in the Montana real estate market was much more dramatic.

“This summer, it crashed down,” Zader said.

In 2005, he counted 849 sales.

This year, he put the sales at 680.

Zader said he noticed sales were off in spring 2006. When summer rolled around, he noticed that the Bitterroot market was running 25 percent behind the previous year’s market.

“That’s where we are now,” he said.

Sheri Jones, broker and owner of Greater Montana GMAC Real Estate, agreed. Through the end of October, the Bitterroot sales dropped about 25 percent on individual units, she said.

She believes that homes are still selling, but not as quickly. Zader acknowledged that prices rose throughout the Montana housing market in terms of residential properties, though.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

But he wants those selling in a buyer’s market to know that the market has cooled off. He doesn’t want them to have false expectations when they put their houses up for sale.

He said real estate executives want to stay optimistic, but the Realtors paint a picture of the market that was too rosy. When compared with real estate in Florida or San Diego, the market does look rosy.

In some of those areas, sales fell by 50 percent, as working-class citizens can’t begin to think about affording a mortgage loan on even a small house.

Lyons said Wednesday that a number of Realtors in the Bitterroot have told her they haven’t experienced a drop in business this year.

“I don’t see any bubble bursting. I don’t even see a bubble,” she said.

Total residential sales were at 983 this time last year, she said. This year they’re at 811. Zader and Lyons provided different figures because sales statistics can be counted in a variety of ways.

“You don’t really see a big difference there,” Lyons said.

It’s about a 17 percent drop.

Lyons also said that business varies from one broker to the next.

Nationally, residential real estate was down in 2006, even as home mortgage costs remained below 7 percent. But forecasters expect a turnaround toward the end of spring 2007.

Zader didn’t expect the dip to last long, either. He said baby boomers and retirees continue to flock to the Bitterroot for its mountains, privacy and easy access to wilderness.

“Overall, western Montana is going to be a great place for real estate,” he said.