By now, most people have heard that the Real Estate market in Bozeman has increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic, both in activity levels and pricing. What has also been interesting is the increases in the higher price ranges.

The million-dollar mark was once a pinnacle that was not often crossed in Gallatin valley residential real estate sales. Looking back at some of the previous peak years, in the entire year of 2008, only 22 homes sold for more than $1 million in the Bozeman areas. Now, 13 years later, 206 homes sold above that mark during just the first 9 months of this year, and another 64 home sales are currently pending. The median sold price in Bozeman is climbing towards the $1 million dollar mark and is now up to around $735,000.

Comparing the first 9 months of the year, January 1 through October 1; the higher end market was fairly similar between 2018 and 2019. In 2018, 56 homes sold for more than $1 million, while 62 homes sold in that price range in 2019. The even higher mark of $2 million and above saw only 4 sales in 2018, and increased to 8 sales in 2019.

As our area attracted even more out of state buyers in 2020, the higher end market took a big increase. 94 homes sold for more than $1 million between the first of the year and the first of October, a more than 50% increase in sales activity. Then, sales more than doubled from 2020 to this year, with 206 homes selling during the first 9 months for more than $1 million.

The market north of $2 million saw similar increases, rising from 8 sales during the first 9 months of 2019 to 20 sales in 2020 and then doubling again to 40 sales in 2021. The speed of the sales saw similar changes. Back in 2018, those 4 sales for more than $2 million sold at a median number of days on market of 214 days. By 2020, that number had almost been cut in half to 139 days on market. This year, it has dropped down to only 26 days on market.

The higher end range isn’t immune to multiple offers and bidding wars. More than a few homes that have come on the market in these higher price ranges have gone pending with 3 or more buyers putting in competing offers.

An interesting note is the number of all cash purchases in this price range has remained relatively similar over the past 4 years. The highest percentage was actually in 2018 when 37 of the 56, or 66% of the sales were made in cash. 2019 saw exactly half, or 31 of the 62 purchases made in all cash. In 2020, it was 51% and in 2021, 46% or 96 of the 206 sales north of $1 million were cash transactions.

As usual, I have included the latest Real Estate statistics. In addition to the 728 homes sold in the first 9 months of 2021, another 156 home sales are currently pending or under contract as of the date of writing.

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 Big Sky Country MLS, and does not include private party sales, Condominiums, or Townhouses.