Wow! What a year! 2015 saw huge increases in sales volume and pricing across the valley. This past year, over 1,000 single family homes sold in a 12-month period in the Bozeman area; 1022 actually. This is up from the 905 single family homes that sold in Bozeman last year. An interesting point here is the amount of the increase. From 2013 to 2014, sales volume rose from 870 homes to 905, which is a 4% increase. But the sales volume increase from 2014 to 2015 was an astounding 13%!

Looking back at pricing: In 2012, the median sold price for all single family homes both inside and outside the city limits was $278,750. This rose 7.3% in 2013 to $300,000. In 2014, the median sold price rose again to $325,000, an 8.3% increase. 2015 saw an 11% increase to $361,550.

Restricting the data to just homes inside the city limits, the median sold price for all single family homes rose from $255,000 in 2012 to $276,540 in 2013, or 8.4%. It then rose to $296,750 in 2014, a 7.3% increase. 2015 saw another big jump here of 14% to a median sold price of $339,000 for single family home sales inside Bozeman city limits.

Condos and Townhomes, which took a bigger hit in the down turn than single family homes, also enjoyed an increase. The median sold price rose from $150,000 in 2012 to $174,000 in 2013, an almost 16% increase. It rose again in 2014 by 13% to $197,000. 2015 saw a 6% increase to $209,000.

With the increase in prices, we also saw a continued decrease in the number of distressed sales in and around Bozeman. The combination of short sales and bank owned homes made up nearly 20% of all sales in 2011. That number dropped to approximately 13% in 2012, 5% in 2013, 2.5% in 2014 and is now less than 2%.

Growth in Bozeman appears to be a runaway snow ball; growing exponentially more each year. Whether one is a fan of growth or against it, it’s happening. I expect that 2016 will see continued increases in both pricing and overall sales volume as more and more people continue to discover this sleepy college town that has a skiing problem.

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. The information provided by the Gallatin Association of REALTORS Corporation / Southwest Montana MLS is compiled from miscellaneous sources and neither the association, nor the listing broker, nor its agents or subagents are responsible for the accuracy of the information.