I think most real estate professionals would tell you that homes in the upper price range are moving pretty slowly these days.  This segment of the market continues to struggle for interest and the amount of competition is pretty significant. 

First off, let’s define what “upper price range” is.  The current median home price for our area has hovered around $195,000 for the past 9 months.  Of the 712 homes that have sold in the past 12 months, nearly 65% sold for between $150,000 and $250,000.  That is by far the majority and is higher than any other range that I researched.  Considering this data, we will consider upper price ranges to be over $250,000. 

Over the past 12 months there are reported to have been 111 sales from $250,000 to $350,000.  This figure is 22% more than compared to the previous 12 months of which there were 86 sales.  The average price in this range is $297,982 which is only 0.5% less than the previous year.  These properties average 197 days on the market.  This is a true count of days on the market, not just the sold listing noted on MLS.  Properties that sold under the original listing sold at a 93.22% list to sales price ratio while those with prior listings sold at a ratio of 86.34%.  (on a side note, approximately 30% of these sales had prior listings) 

The final point of discussion is the listings in this price range.  There are 136 current listings in this price range and 8 homes currently under contract.  This calculates to an absorption rate of 13.72 months.  Or more simply put, the current supply of homes we have in the price range of $250,000 to $350,000 is a 14 month supply.  That estimate is assuming conditions remain stable, which at this point would appear to be a fairly safe assumption, but any number of factors could influence that.   And on another side note, the current average list price in this range is $292,964 and days on the market is 149, but I did not include expired listings in this figure.

I’m not going to make any forecasts, but it is not hard to draw your own conclusions from this data.  The figures represent single family properties in MLS areas #1-17, or the greater Helena area including Mt. City and Clancy.  Let me know if you have any questions or discrepancies on this, I’m happy to discuss it.