I’m asked this question quite often.. most everyone I meet who knows I’m a real estate agent wonders how Billings is holding up given all the negative press real estate gets (and rightly so, in many parts of the country). I’ll usually give it a laugh and tell them to quit paying attention to national news and keep an eye on what they see happening locally.
Based upon my experience and the stats provided by the Billings Association of Realtors, our market is nothing less than solid. A November 29, 2007 article on MSN Money ranked Billings the 10th best real estate market nationally (population over 100,000) for the preceding 12 month period. Recent statistics show a slowing market over the same period last year, with average prices holding up, but the number of sales and percentage of homes sold/ listed declining. Not necessarily a surprise as election years tend to cause buyers to stand on the sidelines to watch a bit. In addition, I do think the negativity in the press regarding the national market and the mortgage market (do any of these talking heads even know what a “subprime” loan looks like?) have had ann effect on buyers. My recent experience is that buyers in the upper end of the market, over $300,000, are more confident about the future than those in the lower end and are more likely to be aggressive in their home search.
Here’s what I do know… Billings is a growing community. Population just topped 100,000, and statistics show that once a city reaches 100,000, population growth accelerates it quickly to 200,000. I’ve read economists estimates that Billings will reach 200,000 people by 2020. I’ve spoken with several commercial bankers in town who have told me that upcoming construction lending is at numbers we’ve never seen.. billions of dollars in new loans. In addition, many large national retailers, restaurants, hotels, etc. are setting up shop in Billings. They include Sam’s Club, Cabelas, Chilis, Kohls, Macaroni Grill, and others. These companies are successful because they’re smart, and they spend millions of dollars a year evaluating new locations and their viability.
I don’t want to sound irrational with regards to the growth potential of Billings and the Billings real estate market, but I do think that homebuyers in Billings will be nicely rewarded in the next 10 years with the value of their real estate. If you are considering buying a home in the Billings area, buy it if it’s right for you.
