Real Estate Information Archive

Time to revisit the performance of the market by price range to get a grasp of how this year is doing as compared to the past. Some interesting facts to ponder. The real one is the fact that sales are 44% lower in total sales than 2006 the peak year

THE NUMBERS FOR THE MARKET THROUGH THE END OF JULY ARE AN INTERESTING MIXTURE. SALES PRICE IS UP, ALTHOUGH LOOKS SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE MERELY A TAX CREDIT BOOST. MY BELIEF THE REAL; IS THE TALE OF THE TAPE IN THREE MEASUREMENTS: 1^ST IS INVENTORY UP 13% FROM LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME, 2^ND THE COMPARISON WITH PENDING SALES FROM LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME DOWN 21% AND THE THIRD MEASUREMENT IS ABSORPTION TIME UP TO 246 DAYS, NOT THE MEASUREMENT OF STRENGTH HOUSING IS LOOKING FOR. A VERY BRIGHT SPOT IN THE REPORT FOR JULY IS NEW SINGLE FAMILY STARTS UP FROM LAST JULY, I HOPE FOR MY BUILDER FRIENDS THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE ALTHOUGH WITH NUMBERS ABOVE IT SEEMS DOUBTFUL. WHEN YOU MIX INTO THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF 50 YEAR HISTORICALLY LOW RATES SUB 4.5% FOR 30 YEAR MONEY THIS DOES PORTRAY A PITIFUL JULY PERFORMANCE.

Open House 1-3

Sunday, July 11, 2010

1008 Poly Drive #C2

Wonderful living in this secluded and elegant condominium, a hideaway in the heart of Billings.  Large open living areas, covered patio, custom kitchen with eating space, formal living & dining,  main level laundry, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car attached garage, game/family room on the lower level too.  $216,000

Your Host:  Howard Sumner 245-6890

According to an article published on Yahoo Finance this morning mortgage interest rates are among the lowest ever recorded.

Following the attached link for complete information.  It is a great time to buy a home in Billings, Montana!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortgage-rates-sink-to-lowest-apf-2118457054.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

You can see the effect of the tax credit in the four major metrics of the housing market. 1st is thew closed sales up 16% from last year. 2nd is pending sales a month after the credit expires down 12% 3rd. is active properties up 14% from last year and 4th the most dramatic is the single family building permits issued in Billings Down 86%. when you factor in that this time of year permits are normally headed up you really get the feel for the impact the tax credit has had on the housing market.

Open 1-3

Sunday, May 16, 2010

1315 West I Road, Worden, MT

$489,000

Beautiful, sprawling & spacious, custom built home on 5 acres a few minutes West of Worden, Montana.  With approx. 4,100 sq. ft. of living area, all on one level; including 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, formal living & dining, family room, custom kitchen, sunroom, 3 car garage, plus 36X50 shop!

Thought I would update through tax day. We now have 9 home shopping days left for the tax credit and truly we are sprinting to the finish line when you look at the percentage increase in pending sales over last year. There are a couple of other worthy notes is the median and average square footage of the homes sold decreasing, yet pricing moving slightly ahead a positive trend to build a solid floor on pricing. The other stand is the decrease in availed rental units. I searched hard to find the most reasonable explanation and I believe it is that people are moving to Yellowstone County in search of employment since we have one of the lowest unemployment numbers in the region. This in migration will probably show up in Yellowstone counties unemployment increasing more than the business environment on its’ own would lead to occur.

I was updating my rental information this morning and thought this might be Interesting to look at rent and own comparisons. For the median and average home payment I use the average and median sales price of a single family home in Billings figure a maximum FHA loan and use 20% of the principal and interest payment as the estimated tax and insurance cost. The rental information contains over 4000 apartment for rent and over 1000 homes. Previous years contain over 12000 apartment and almost 5000 homes for rent

Open House 1-3 PM

Sunday, April 11, 2010

911 Steffanich Drive

Your family will enjoy the luxurious decor & special features of this 6 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath home with 3,720 sq. ft. of living area, huge custom oak kitchen, dining area, formal living room, family room, storage, 2 car garage, fenced rear yard all on 1.2 acre of ground.  Enjoy the space & secluded area.

$243,000

Open House 1-3 PM

Sunday, April 11, 2010

3181 Fairmeadow Drive

Comfortable family home with 3,674 sq. ft of living space, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 2 family room areas, formal living room, storage galore, plus 3 car garage, RV parking, privacy fenced rear yard, great Northwest Billings location.

$259,900