W
hat a wild winter it’s been. For those who enjoy the snow, it was a phenomenal year. As I write this, grass is starting to appear from under the snowbanks and spring is trying to come to the valley. The real estate market continues to evolve. This month, we’ll take a look at the condo and townhouse market.

Looking at first quarter sales over the past few years, January 1st through the end of March 2021 saw a large increase in pricing from first quarter sales of 2020, when the median sold price rose 18.5% to $400,700. Then, last year, the median sold price for the 105 condo and townhouse sales jumped another 38% to $553,000. This year, the median sold price for first quarter condo and townhouse sales came in at $489,000.

One note is that pricing can vary widely in the condo and townhouse world, depending on age and location. Many of the higher priced, luxury units are located downtown. If we remove that area and compare pricing of just units located outside of downtown Bozeman, we see that the median sold price went from $370,000 in 2021 to $500,000 in 2022 and back to $480,000 this year. These numbers again include sales taking place during the first quarter of the respective years.

The amount of inventory in the form of newly listed condos and townhouses was down considerably this year. The first quarter of 2020 saw the highest number of new listings at 205. In 2021, new listings decreased, down to 135. That number then rose in 2022 to 161. This year, the number of condos and townhomes listed during the first quarter was down considerably, at 91 new listings.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of closed sales was also down this year, after remaining fairly consistent for the previous three years. In 2020, 107 units sold in the first three months. 2021 saw 109 closed sales, and 2022 saw 105. This year, closed sales were down to 65 units.

Pending units are also down compared to the last couple of years. At time of writing, 89 condo and townhouse sales are currently pending, or are under contract. This compares to 122 this time last year, and 179 similar sales pending the year before.

Looking at the median days on market, for first quarter condo and townhouse sales in 2019, it was 20 days on market. That number rose significantly in 2020 to 45 days, perhaps as we started to see the effects of the pandemic. For the first quarters of both 2021 and 2022, the median days on market was only three days. This year, that number is up to 55 days.

As usual, I have included data for the number of single-family homes sold during the first three months of 2023. 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.