Greetings!  

Greetings from snow country where winter weather and activities are in full swing. The annual Pray for Snow party must have reached the right ears, as snowfall has been abundant at the Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort while we've enjoyed a relatively mild winter in the valley. Early season reports from the Mountain are that skier visits from out of the area continue to grow while local skier traffic remains stable. The result appears to portend another banner year for the resort and the winter economy of the entire valley.

Whitefish Mountain Resort has received a number of complimentary reviews this season, featured in the National Geographic; The Adventure Post; and was named one of the Weather Channels Top 10 Scenic Resorts.

2012 was a very good year for tourism, employment and new business development in the Whitefish area. Though hard statistics are difficult to come by, reports from most local merchants reflect significant gains over recent years, in some cases reaching or exceeding pre-recession levels.

The housing market experienced another year of the continued steady recovery we have seen for the past 4 years. The number of residential transactions for the Flathead Valley increased 29% over 2011 figures with 1331 closed residential sales in 2012.

Continuing the recent trend and comprising a significant share of the market, bank owned properties and short sales accounted for 35% of all transactions. We expect to see this influence decline in the near future, as local lenders are nearing the end of liquidating the significant inventories accumulated in 2009 and 2010.

The number of residential listings begins the year at below 1,200 for the first time since January 2005. Bank owned and short sale listings now account for less than 11% of residential listings, evidence of reduced inventories of bank owned properties.

Land sales closed numbered 327 for 2012; however this represents one of the areas where recovery has been slowest, with over 1,300 listings currently on the market. This daunting 4-year supply actually looks better than the real situation, as in many cases only one or two lots are listed in completed subdivisions of 15 or 20 lots. This shadow inventory will continue to suppress land prices for the foreseeable future.

2012 dollar volume for closed transactions increased approximately 25% over 2011 year-end figures according to NMAR MLS data. This closely matches the year over year increase in the number of closed transactions, indicating that pricing remains relatively stable across most product types.

While the above information shows continuing market improvement in general, there are definitely sectors of our market fairing better than others. The good news is that the past two years have established what appears to be a baseline price level in most areas and product types, giving both buyers and sellers confidence as to what represents a fair price. We will continue to monitor the market and report as the year progresses.