Missoula and The Ranch Club stable and growing in new home sales
A report came out recently from the National Association of Homebuilders showing a 6.6% increase in new home sales across the country for the month of September.
How do these national numbers play out in the West and in Missoula, specifically?
Missoula’s KECI-TV ran a story on the subject recently.
As a region the West was actually down 9.9%, even though the country was up 6.6%, due in large part to some of the hardest hit real estate markets in the country being in the West: Las Vegas, California and Arizona.
How do these national numbers compare to what’s happening Missoula?
According to numbers assembled by a local realtor, 2010 home sales in Missoula including single family homes, homes with acreage, and new construction dropped each year for the last several years but show a 1% increase for 2010, with 579 sales in 2009 and already 586 in 2010 through October.
Additionally, bare land sales in the city of Missoula through October 2010 are already 22% ahead of sales for the entire year of 2009.
Information from the Montana Building Industry Association shows single family home building permits issued in Missoula dropped each year for the last four years but have now stabilized through 2010 nearly matching the number of permits issued in 2009.
Within these numbers, one neighborhood with Missoula land for sale has really shown positive growth. The Ranch Club had its best year of bare land sales in 2009, selling 12 lots.
And, in the last 12 months, 9 new homes have been started or completed at The Ranch Club.
The feeling at The Ranch Club is that people who bought homesites in 2009 are building homes in 2010.
The motivation for building new homes versus buying existing homes is the same as it has always been -- a desire for specific features.
At The Ranch Club some emerging themes among people who are building are --
Among Families:
- Proximity to the amenities at The Ranch Club – (easy walk to pool, golf course, and fitness center)
- Desire for real estate in the Hellgate School District but unable to find existing home to suit needs
Among Empty nesters:
- desire for one-story living
- 3 bedrooms on main floor
- Walk-out basement for future expansion
- Downsizing from current home
- Open feeling with eat-in kitchens
- Want for larger closets and more storage space
