Real Estate Information

1126 Miles Avenue

Open 1-3

Sunday, May 20, 2012

$120,900

Delightful home with designer colors, great living spaces both inside & out 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, storage shed, fenced yard and more!

Another month and a third of the way through 2012. The market is moving faster than what I expected, I truly believed that it would take till late summer to have the improvement in numbers that we are seeing.  All the numbers are stand outs, so I will comment first on price movement. When you look at the  both the average and median selling price it appears the market is really making a movement and it has, yet not quite as big as it appears on the surface the “REAL APPRECIATION” YEAR OVER YEAR BASED BOTH ON PRICE AND SIZE IS A GOOD SOLID 2%. Reviewing the numbers below you can see the market has turned in all categories. This does not mean all the sudden that sellers have the upper hand in negotiations, but it does mean we have left the “buyers” market where the buyer had the upper hand in negotiations. We are now in a balanced situation where both parties need to be reasonable to successfully complete a transaction.  I have included graphs below for a bit of historical perspective on where we are today. Big improvement over 2011 and close to matching the “tax credit fueled market of 2010” yet we are still 20% below the 2008 figures in terms of sales so things are positive, yet we still have a ways to go to reach our previous levels of activity. Interest rates are still at their historical lows so it is a great time to make a move in the market. The  rental market continues move to a strong landlords market so rents will be moving in a direction to increase returns on income producing properties.

As always if you need more information about the market or buying and selling please call or e-mail.

Looking for space?  This home has room to spare!

359 Stewart Court South

$203,000

4 bedrooms, 3 baths, living room, dining, room, family room, storage space, oversized 2 car garage, fenced yard, deck and more!  Call to see this home today 245-6890

Here we are at the end of the March, ending the first quarter. Time flies when you are having fun, the first two months behaved like I expected, pretty much a slog, then March came. It behaved like someone turned on the faucet. The market has gone from where buyers definitely had the upper hand in negotiations to a balance in the market place, where neither buyer nor sellers have more power. The first thing that happens as this change takes place, buyers resist, and continue along the same path of low offers and asking for the world, only with the change, sellers with properties in decent condition and reasonable location don’t have to accept and can respond in a reasonable fashion and get their property sold.  The positive from the buyer’s side they can feel more comfortable that the market is at worst flat and most probably headed in a positive direction. With inventory running 29% below last year, pending sales up 15% and 30 year mortgagees at 4% plus the economy of Yellowstone county growing it appears the train is leaving the station of poor performance, albeit slowly yet a great positive. Other items of note are both new construction with a great improvement over last year in number of permits issued so far and fi you are and investor or owner of mutli family property availability is down and rents are starting to move up. If buyers elect not buy instead of rent this will put more pressure on rents and prices will increase faster, since the lead time and complexity of bring more rental units to market is huge stumbling block availability will stay constrained until rents make overcoming the problems of supplying new units profitable.  The market appears to progressing about 3 to 4 months faster than I thought it would so it will be interesting to see how this next quarter performs. Stay tuned!!!!!

HERE WE ARE ROARING THROUGH 2012. TWO MONTHS GONE AND TWO MONTHS OF WINTER WITH JUST SOME COOL WEATHER, NOTHING LIKE THE LAST TWO WINTERS IN TERMS OF SNOW.  INTEREST RATES ABOUT AT 3.89% FOR A 30 YEAR FIXED RATE MORTGAGE, 20% BELOW LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME; THOSE TWO THINGS COMBINED ARE SHOWING UP IN THE HOME SALES IN YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. CLOSED SALES AT A NICE CLIP ABOVE 2011, IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS, ALTHOUGH I WOULD CONSIDER IT A BIT OF MISS MATCH OF A COMPARISON WITH THE FACTORS MENTIONED ABOVE. THE REAL BRIGHT SPOT IS THE DECREASE IN INVENTORY THAT ALONE WILL GET THE MARKET BACK TO BALANCE FASTER THAN INCREASE SALES. THE BALANCE OF THE INVENTORY DROP MEANS SELLERS WERE DISAPPOINTED WITH WHAT THE MARKET WOULD ALLOW FOR A SALES PRICE AND HAVE MOVED TO THE SIDELINES UNTIL PRICING PROSPECTS LOOK BRIGHTER. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SINGLE FAMILY BUILDING PERMITS NUMBERS YOU CAN SEE THE EFFECT OF BOTH WEATHER AND INTEREST RATE ENVIRONMENT CREATING POSITIVE MOMENTUM, HOPEFULLY FOR NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION AND RESALE’S THE INCREASED ACTIVITY IS INCREASED INTEREST IN THE MARKET AND NOT ALL ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE WEATHER PULLING SALES FORWARD IN THE YEAR. THE RENTAL MARKET CONTINUES TO  MOVE TOWARDS THE OWNERS SIDE WITH DECREASING INVENTORY MEANING PRICE INCREASES WILL BECOMING FOR RENTERS TOWARD MID SUMMER TO EARLY FALL.  NEGOTIATIONS STILL ARE PRETTY TESTY BETWEEN BUYER AND SELLER, WHICH I EXPECTED, YET THE BUYERS HAND STRENGTH WILL WEAKEN WITH THE DECREASE IN INVENTORY AND INCREASE IN SALES AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH THE YEAR.

Open 1-3

February 26, 2012

549 Cherry Hills Road

Your family will enjoy this brand new energy smart home built by Specialized Construction.  Open living area, custom kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3 car attached garage, unfinished daylight level for future expansion, large storage space, deck and more!  Come and see it!  $259,549

Open 1-3 p.m.

719 Wyoming Avenue, Laurel

$141,750

Comfortable, affordable & squeaky clean!  You will enjoy viewing this 2 bedroom, 1 bath home, detached garage, large deck, fenced yard, storage, separate laundry area, custom kitchen and more!

204 & 206 Calhoun Lane

You will want to know about this super outstanding value for your investment portfolio.  The units on this duplex property include 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, large kitchen with oven/range, refrigerator, dishwasher.  Off-street parking, washer & dryer hook-ups.  The units rent for $950 each per month, gas heating system and more.  Call to see this opportunity today!

Priced at $179,204

Open House

Sunday, January 22, 2012

549 Cherry Hills Drive

$259,549

Beautiful brand new home built by Specialized Construction, Inc. has so many features you will fall in love!  Spacious open living areas, vaulted ceilings, custom kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths main level, main level laundry, and lots of room for future expansion, storage galore, 3 car attached garage, deck and more!  Come see it today!

355 31st Street West

$217,000

Your family will enjoy this home in all Seasons!  Bright & light living areas, country style kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, spacious family room with gas fireplace, office/hobby room, storage galore, covered deck, unique garden shed, privacy fenced yard, immaculately clean, located in West Billings.  Call today to see this home!