People continue buying homes despite pandemic
Nicole Tavenner
Homes in Lake County are selling quickly this spring.
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LAKE COUNTY – Homes in the area are selling quickly. Real estate agents are having different experiences, but overall, they are selling homes despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local real estate broker Ric Smith, owner of Century 21 Big Sky Real Estate, said that’s mostly due to people from the state of Montana purchasing homes.
Trudy Samuelson, owner and broker at Mission Valley Properties in St. Ignatius, said she does think the number of people from out of state has increased since the pandemic started. She’s seen buyers looking for a less densely populated place to own a home. Samuelson said there’s been a distinct rise in demand in the region in the last six months, which she attributes to out-of-state buyers in part.
Smith said the amount of available housing is decreasing for both year-round residences and vacation homes. At the same time, demand for housing in the region has increased, which means housing prices are getting higher.
According to Smith, the area has two markets: less expensive homes that locals purchase to live in and more expensive homes that people from out-of-state buy as retirement or vacation homes. Despite the common sentiment that non-locals are buying up all the real estate in the area, Smith says the vast majority of homes he sells are to Montana residents.
While folks from urban areas hit hard by the pandemic have fled to rural areas, like Lake County, to take shelter in rentals or homes they already owned during the pandemic, Smith said he hasn’t seen many home buyers from out of state looking to escape the pandemic.
Smith said the advent of remote work has made it possible for people to keep their jobs based in cities but live in rural areas like Lake County. Some companies are expanding options for remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic mandated that people work from home, which could mean more people will move to the area and work remotely, Smith said.
Despite the current economic downturn caused by the pandemic, Smith said he’s optimistic that Lake County’s housing market will remain strong. Housing markets in other regions of the country have essentially ground to a halt because of the pandemic. That’s not true for the Lake County market.
“We got through the recession and a lot of safeguards were put in place to prevent the length and depth of recession we had before, so I have a feeling Montana is going to have a good recovery,” he said.
Smith has seen slightly below-average home sales in recent months due to the pandemic and economic downturn; however, homes are still selling, in part, because interest rates for loans are at a historic low. That makes buying a home more accessible to locals whose incomes haven’t been devastated by the pandemic.
“You can buy more house for your money,” Smith said.
