Bozeman Real Estate Market Makes National Headlines

I recently posted on my personal Facebook page how if the real estate prices in Bozeman continue to rise, my wife and I would be living in a van down by the river.

via GIPHY

It was a joke, of course, but several of my friends who live in other states asked me why it was so expensive to live here in Bozeman. I did my best to explain to them all that Bozeman has to offer, the outdoors, the rivers, the lakes,  the mountains, and close proximity to Yellowstone National Park. Plus, Bozeman has become the "it" town of the West. It has a resort-town feel and resort-town prices.

For the last few years, Bozeman has witnessed substantial growth, and with that comes a lot of growing pains. Many businesses struggle to find staff, traffic worsens, and we've seen people setting up in make-shift neighborhoods with run-down RVs on our side streets.

Get our free mobile app

However, the biggest issue the city faces is housing. Unless you are a trust-fund kid, make a bazillion dollars a year, or win the Power Ball, chances are you can't afford a house in Bozeman.

How bad is it?

Well, it's bad enough that the national publication Newsweek wrote an article about our lovely little town and how home prices are averaging just under a million dollars each. The article states:

The median sale price of a home, which incorporates single-family properties, condos and townhomes, has increased by 24 percent to $820,000 as of February, compared to a year ago. That's way above the national median sale price of a home, which is at about $418,000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

One of my out-of-state friends asked, "If the homes are that expensive, does the pay match?"  I laughed. While you can certainly make more here than in places in the mid-west and the south, the truth is the pay doesn't match.

According to Business Insider, the average American mortgage payment is 1775 a month, and even cheaper here in Montana with an average payment of 1611 a month. While that might be true for some parts of Montana, it certainly isn't true for Bozeman and hasn't been for a few years.

In case you're curious, I looked up a house on Realtor.com in Bozeman, and is listed at 615 thousand, which is on the cheap end. According to the website, with 20 percent down and an interest rate of 6.9 percent at 30 years, you would pay just over 3700 a month.

This is more than most Bozemanites can afford and the reason why we're making national headlines. So, if you are one of the many in our city that is hoping to one day own a home here, God bless you. If you're reading this and thinking of moving here, they say Idaho is nice.