Home prices continue increase in Whitefish, Columbia Falls

Home prices in Whitefish continued to rise in the first half of 2017, according to a market report by Kelley Appraisal, following a trend of steady increases for the last five years.

The median price of a home in Whitefish this year is $334,500, an 8.4 percent increase over the first half of the previous year. Last year saw a smaller jump of 2.9 percent in the median price.

Home prices for Whitefish include a radius of 3.5 miles outside city limits in the Kelley report.

Whitefish is also seeing more homes sold compared to the first six months of 2016 with 177, a 33 percent increase over the same time period last year. A total of 290 homes were sold in 2016.

The median price for a lakefront home on Whitefish Lake took another big leap as well, jumping from $1.5 million last year to $1.9 million this year, a 25 percent jump. This year has also seen more than half, seven, of last year’s sales of 12.

Jim Kelley, who compiles the report, said the rise in price isn’t what he expected.

“To a certain degree it surprises me because the interest rates aren’t really going down. Probably the biggest thing I’d say is because the inventories are down, so you’ve got buyers competing for fewer and fewer properties and sellers are able to go ahead and get a higher price,” he said. “It’s just basic supply and demand.”

Countywide, median home prices took a 9 percent jump to $269,000 with an 11 percent rise in sales.

This month has seen the most listings in Flathead County so far this year too, with 1,096 homes for sale at a median price of $469,900.

Columbia Falls saw the largest leap in home prices, with a 34 percent increase in the median home price. The median price this year is $265,000, compared to $197,250 in the first half of 2016. These figures also include a 3.5 mile radius around Columbia Falls. Median home prices in Bigfork dropped 6.8 percent while prices in Lakeside rose 9.1 percent.

Kelley said it’s the same old story for the spikes in sales and price in Columbia Falls — people move there when they can’t afford to live in Whitefish.

“Columbia Falls and other areas is largely becoming a bedroom community of both Kalispell and Whitefish, particularly Whitefish,” he said. “People that are working in the Whitefish area can’t really afford that area, so Columbia Falls is a good alternative.”

Wendy Brown, supervising broker for Chuck Olson Real Estate, said affordability is key for commuters.

“There’s no affordable housing in Whitefish, so people are jumping over to Columbia Falls so they can commute and still work in Whitefish. We’re also seeing Columbia Falls doing some things, they’re putting in new hotels, they’ve got the farmers market — people are starting to think that Columbia Falls is the next undiscovered area.”

Brown said while she doesn’t see giant leaps in prices and sales coming soon, she doesn’t see the slow rise stopping.

“I don’t think that we’re going to continue to see rapid increases like we did over the last couple years, but I don’t see it declining,” Brown said. “I think we’re going to continue to see good sales volume for the rest of the year.”

Kelley Appraisal is based in Kalispell and has monitored real estate trends in the Flathead for more than 30 years.