Waterfront real estate inventory low in the Flathead

This summer, toilet paper isn’t the only thing that’s been hard to find in the Flathead Valley. The inventory of residential properties for sale on Flathead Lake is nearing a record low number, according to August data from the Waterfront Market Report compiled by Realtor David Fetveit.

“The combination of increased sales over the past 18 months, along with the current crisis has led to low inventory,” Fetveit explained in the report.

In August 2019, there were 117 residential waterfront listings on Flathead Lake. This year, there are 95. The number of land listings also dropped from 33 to 24 over the same time period.

Waterfront condos are in high demand, too, with availability down from approximately 24 months of inventory at this time last year to only about seven months of inventory this month.

Fetveit attributed the condo crunch to the rise in prices of single-family homes as that inventory has been depleted, leading to a run on condos that Fetveit expects to continue in the coming year.

August is usually the annual peak for lake listings, which tend to bottom out between January and March.

The decreased inventory appear to be pushing property prices higher and higher. By August, the average year-to-date sales price for residential waterfront properties was about $1.3 million, compared to prices closer to $1 million in 2019 and 2018.

Average frontage prices in August 2020 came in at approximately $5,359 per improvement-adjusted linear foot. In 2019, the average was $4,719, and in 2018, the average was $4,012.

Residential sale prices peaked in the winter months, and the median price has now settled down to just above $1.1 million.

There were 15 total waterfront sales in July 2020, including nine sales over $1 million. Bigfork and Polson accounted for the majority of these recent sales, according to Fetveit.

The average year-to-date price for condo properties that have been sold this year currently sits around $422,138. The average price for active waterfront listings, meanwhile, is $637,980.

This data follows the trends of decreasing inventories and increased buyer presence that have been occurring locally for the past three years, according to Fetveit’s analysis.

But with COVID-19 shutdowns and civil unrest in urban areas, Fetveit added “those trend lines met an inflection point this summer.” ■

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.