2023 Missoula Market Recap

I wanted to take a moment to present a recap of the insightful findings from the 2023 Five Valleys Housing Report, which was presented on March 4th, 2024. This comprehensive report provides valuable insights into the current state of our local housing market.

It is my goal to be your local source for Missoula real estate information.

Sales:

Median sale prices increased by 5.8% in 2023, with the median price reaching $550,000. This increase in median sale price is much smaller than we have seen in the past few years and signals that prices might finally be stabilizing. However, the number of homes sold went down - decreasing 13% from 2022.

One significant shift observed in the market is the list to sale price ratio, which has fallen below 100% for the first time in recent years, settling at 98.8% of the list price. This adjustment indicates more negotiations are happening and that not all homes are selling for over list price.

52% of neighborhoods in Missoula are characterized by having a "normal" supply of housing, while the remaining 48% of neighborhoods face an undersupply, signaling challenges in meeting housing demand across the city. Click here for a closer look at supply levels in different Missoula neighborhoods.

As real estate sale prices continue to increase, it's essential to address the ongoing issue of affordable housing in Missoula. While the pace of price increases may be slowing compared to previous years, the affordability of housing across the city is still decreasing, posing significant challenges for residents.

I encourage you to take a look at the ‘Sales Relative to Affordability Threshold’ on the Missoula Organization of Realtor’s website here on slide #7.

Rentals:

In addition to sales trends, the rental market experienced notable changes in 2023. Short-term rentals (i.e. vacation rentals) increased by 4%, totaling 942 rentals in all of Missoula. However, demand for these short term rentals has decreased over the last year.

The long term rental vacancy rate continues to climb, reporting a vacancy rate of 4.4% in 2023 compared to 1.2% in 2022. A healthy rental market has vacancy rates between 5%-8%.

The Missoula Organization of Realtors Five Valleys Housing Report provides valuable insights from our housing data. As we continue to monitor these trends, it's essential to adapt strategies and policies to ensure the resilience and accessibility of housing within our community. In the future I hope to see, and will be a proponent for, an increase in community land trust homes, co-ops, resident owned communities, and other conditional pathways to ownership.

I hope the information provided here was helpful to your understanding of Missoula’s housing market and affordability crisis. Should you have any questions about the report, please feel free to give me a call or you can reach me by email. You can also watch the recording of the report on the Missoula Organization of Realtors website www.MissoulaRealEstate.com.