Summer is in full swing. We’re now over half way through the year, and I thought it prudent to take a look back at the first 6 months of 2016 and see how the Real Estate market faired.

It’s been another busy spring and summer here in Bozeman. From the first of the year through July 1st, 509 single family homes sold. This is compared to 479 homes during the same time period last year; a 6% increase in sales volume. The interesting note here is how strong June was. Back in the spring, it looked like 2016 was going to have difficulty keeping up with 2015 numbers. Through May 1st, more homes had actually sold in 2015. Through June 1st, it was almost tied, with 4 more homes having sold in 2016. However, June sales really surged with 140 single family homes closing last month compared to 116 in June of 2015.

Looking at median pricing, the gains have been modest but steady. The median sold price for all single family homes in Bozeman rose 4.4% from $359,000 for the first half of 2015 to $374,900 in 2016. Breaking this down further and looking just at homes within the city limits, median sold pricing rose 7.9% from $334,000 to $360,000.

Condo & townhome pricing, which had not recovered as quickly as single family homes, really ticked upwards. Median sold pricing for condos & townhomes rose almost 15% from $204,900 last year to $234,950 this year. This is the time of the year that MSU parents are really scrambling to find housing for their MSU students, so condos & townhouses are in high demand right now.

As usual, I have included data for the number of single family homes sold during the first six months of 2016. In addition to the 509 single family homes sold during this time period, another 249 homes are currently pending, or under contract, as of the date of writing this article. This is compared to 202 single family homes that were under contract at this same time last year

The included data reflects sales of homes in the greater Bozeman area, including Four Corners, Gallatin Gateway, Bridger Canyon, and Bozeman city limits. The data includes home sales reported through the local Southwest Montana MLS, and does not include private party sales, Condominiums, or Townhouses.