At the Clearwater Montana Properties office here in Seeley Lake, two specific questions have been very popular over the past few months. The first is a question we get regardless of the season, year, or current events: “How’s the market?”
The second question is about the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement that took effect this summer and its impact on buyers and sellers. Let’s dive in and get some answers.
HOW’S THE MARKET?
The real estate market in the Seeley-Swan Valley is continuing to stabilize after rapid price increases and stiff competition during the pandemic era. The good news for buyers is that they now have significantly more bargaining power than before. Inspection, insurance and financing contingencies are commonplace again, the average number of days on market has increased, and more listings are selling for below asking price. But there’s also positive news for sellers — average home prices are continuing to rise and the overall number of home sales has also increased since the same time last year. Land sales are an area where we’ve seen the market soften in the past year with fewer overall land sales and slightly lower average and median land prices compared to the previous 12-24 months.
SEELEY LAKE HOMES
In the past 12 months, 41 homes sold in Seeley Lake for a total of $24.8 million compared to 34 homes totaling $17.2 million in the past 12-24 months. On average, homes in Seeley Lake sold after 107 days on market versus 92 days the previous year. The average home price for the last 12 months was $604,000 and median home price was $480,000, compared to an average of $505,000 and median of $496,000 the previous year.
SEELEY LAKE LAND
In the past 12 months, 19 lots sold in Seeley Lake for a total of $3.9 million compared to 22 lots totaling $5.1 million in the past 12-24 months. The median days on market for land in Seeley Lake was 71 days versus 70 days on market the previous year. The average land price for the last 12 months was $205,000 and median price was $165,000 compared to $232,000 and $182,000 a year prior.
CONDON HOMES
In the past 12 months, 10 homes sold in Condon for a total of $9.6 million compared to nine homes totaling $7.8 million in the past 12-24 months. The median days on market for homes in Condon was 68 days versus 39 days the previous year. The median home price for the last 12 months was $705,000 compared to $625,000 a year prior.
CONDON LAND
In the past 12 months, just one lot sold in Condon for $150,000 after 220 days on market compared to seven lots totaling $5.7 million sold after a median of 74 days on market in the past 12-24 months. Typically, there are fewer parcels for sale in Condon and they tend to have more acreage, leading to higher prices and fewer overall sales. Currently, there are four lots for sale in Condon, two of which are listed at over $1.4 million, one at $575,000, and one at $165,000.
WHAT IS THE NAR SETTLEMENT AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Earlier this year, there was a flurry of news articles about major upcoming changes for the real estate industry. Here’s a brief overview of the settlement that led to those headlines, what industry changes were made and how those changes affect buyers and sellers.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement was an agreement put in place to resolve claims brought by homesellers against NAR related to broker compensation. The agreement made some changes to how real estate agents do business and those changes took effect on Aug. 17, 2024. There’s a ton of great, detailed information on NAR’s website (www.nar.realtor/the-facts/nar-settlement-faq) but here are the two main changes required by the settlement:
1. Buyers must now sign a written agreement with their buyer’s agent before touring any homes. This written agreement is intended to make it clearer to buyers what services their agent will provide and how much their agent will be paid. Buyers in Montana were always required to sign this type of agreement eventually, but the NAR settlement requires that it be signed before touring homes. It’s worth noting that buyers do not need to sign a written agreement if they’re just talking with an agent at an open house, or if they don’t have a buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent has agreed to show them the home on the seller’s behalf.
2. Offers of buyer’s agent compensation can no longer be shared on Multiple Listing Services (MLSs). According to NAR’s website, “MLSs are local marketplaces used by both buyer and seller agents to share information about homes for sale. Offers of compensation are still an option but must be communicated off-MLS if a seller chooses to make an offer available.” Sellers have always had the option to offer compensation to buyers’ agents (or not), but the settlement changed how that information can be shared between agents. Before, seller’s agents could enter buyer’s agent compensation details in MLSs. Now, these offers of compensation cannot be shared on MLSs which means buyer’s agents need to ask seller’s agents for that information directly.
So, what does this actually mean for buyers and sellers? As a buyer, you’ll need to have a conversation with your buyer’s agent and sign a written agreement with them before touring homes instead of later in the process. As a seller, compensation remains negotiable as it always has been, but your seller’s agent can no longer share offers of buyer’s agent compensation on MLS, agents won’t be able to filter property searches on MLS based off that data and real estate websites like Zillow that pull data from MLSs will no longer show compensation information. Buyer’s agents now typically ask the seller’s agent about buyer’s agent compensation when scheduling a property tour so their buyers can take that into consideration if they choose to write up an offer.
OTHER QUESTIONS?
If you want to learn more about real estate in the Seeley-Swan Valley, are curious about your property’s value, or are looking for more detail on the practice changes tied to the recent NAR settlement, please contact your real estate professional to discuss.
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