| BOZEMAN REAL ESTATE SALES DATA - BOZEMAN HOME PRICES - SOUTHWEST MONTANA HOME VALUES - ECONOMY - CLIMATE - COST OF LIVING |
In 2008, the average sale price for a single family home in Bozeman declined $17,341, dropping from $337,683 in 2007 to $320,342, which was a 5% decrease. The average sale price for a condo in Bozeman declined $19,206, dropping from $234,936 in 2007 to $215,730, which was an 8% decrease.Search for Bozeman Real Estate & Big Sky, Livingston, Belgrade, Manhattan Montana Real Estate
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| Southeast Bozeman - Spanish Peaks of the Madison Range |
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| Southwest Montana and Bozeman, Montana OverviewSouthwest Montana consists of extensive mountain ranges, primal wilderness, blue-ribbon trout streams and rivers, world-class snowboarding and skiing. Home to Yellowstone National Park, southwest Montana is a recreationist's paradise.
Population in the city of Bozeman, MT grew 18% from 2000 to 2004. Other Gallatin County and Park County cities have grown at similar rates. Though steady growth tends to bring both positive and negative results, the encouraging news is that in spite of growth, Bozeman and outlying towns have retained their "small town" characters. Bozeman has a thriving historic downtown shopping and dining district.
In 2005, American Cities Business Journals, a national publisher of business newspapers in 41 major American cities, ranked Bozeman, Montana first among the nation's top sixteen small-sized markets (cities with fewer than 100,000 people). The ranking cited Bozeman's high ratio of small businesses per 100,000 people, a positive aspect of Bozeman's rapid, two-year growth rate of 10.7%.
The population in the city of Belgrade, MT grew 23% from 2000 to 2004, increasing from 5,728 to 7,046. The Belgrade, Montana growth plan calls for community expansion to provide more jobs for local residents and to diversify Belgrade's economic base, which ultimately means Belgrade, Montana real estate will need to be transferred from agricultural uses to non-agricultural uses in an effort to accommodate the influx of new residents.
Home to Montana State University and containing a highly educated and qualified workforce (43.2% have a bachelor's degree or higher), Gallatin County, Montana regularly ranks as one of the nation's most livable regions. Gallatin County, MT has received A's in both vibrancy and vitality and both civic capacity and engagement, and the County was named as the best place in the Rockies for healthy living and small business creation in the recent The State of the Rockies Report Card, published by Colorado College.
Bozeman, Montana is just one of the communities located in Gallatin County, MT. In 2001, Bozeman was one of 10 communities nationwide that won the All-America City Award, which is the longest-running and most prestigious civic award in the United States. Sponsored by the American Civic League, in cooperation with Allstate Insurance Company, the All-America City Award honors communities in which businesses, schools, government, churches, non-profit agencies, and clubs collaborate to resolve important community issues.
Southwest Montana and Bozeman MT Climate
This part of Southwest Montana has an almost ideal four-season climate with mild mountain temperatures. For the most part, the region doesn't experience the extremes of heat or cold found in other parts of Montana. With an average of 320 days of sunshine each year, Bozeman has more annual days of sun than does Houston, Texas.
The Southwest Montana and Bozeman climate reflects its mountain setting. Its summers are pleasant, with warm days, cool nights, and much sunshine. Hot weather and humid conditions are infrequent. The area is among one of the few regions in the U.S. where the average summer climate is comfortable because of moderate combined heat and humidity. In the early fall, often until mid-October, daily temperatures average a high of 70 degrees. In mid to late October, temperatures drop to highs in the 40s and 50s and lows in the 20s and 30s. Southwest Montana winters find inconsistent temperatures. Mild winter weather occurs frequently and a week or more of consistently cold weather seldom occurs.*
For those involved in winter sports, the relative low humidity (~58.9°) in southwest, MT coupled with light winds create an ideal winter climate for outdoor activity. The Montana skiing and Montana snowboarding season usually begins mid-December, ending mid-April. Spring tends to come late in southwest Montana. A third of the yearly precipitation occurs during April, May, and June, after which the weather becomes dry and sunny. The average growing season is 107 days. The first significant frost occurs in mid-September.
Bozeman, Montana Real Estate Expectations in 2009
According to Housing Predictor, our collegiate, skiing, fishing, outdoorsy little city, Bozeman, Montana is tagged as one of the top ten US real estate markets for home appreciation in 2009.
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Southwest Montana and Bozeman Quality of LifeThe southwest Montana region's quality of life is exceptional in large part because the Bozeman, Montana Gallatin Valley and the Livingston, Montana Paradise Valley are surrounded by several mountain ranges, including the Bridger Range, Madison Range, Gallatin Range, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Bangtail, and Tobacco Root Mountains, which provide thousands of acres of national forest wilderness and Montana state land as well as hosting a vast trail system running through wild Montana lands and over many Montana mountain ranges.
Two of the entrances to Yellowstone National Park, America’s oldest and best known protected wildlands, are but a beautiful 90-mile drive south from Bozeman, Montana and a 55-mile commute south from Livingston, Montana; this proximity enables both residents and tourists easy, four-season access to Yellowstone Park. The southwest Montana landscape is a scenic wilderness, and Glacier National Park, another of the United States' most beautiful national parks, is less than a day’s drive northwest of the Gallatin Valley, Montana.
Southwest Montana and Bozeman EconomyMontana Economy - Condition - U.S. Economy - Condition
As a whole, both Gallatin County, MT and Park County, MT have a diverse, thriving economy of tourism, government, manufacturing, retail, technology, construction, agriculture, and service. Some communities within both Montana counties include many or all these industries, others are dependent on fewer. For example, West Yellowstone, MT, prospers almost entirely on Montana tourism. The largest single employer in the Bozeman region, Montana State University (MSU), employs about 3,500. Also, MSU's 11,000+ students significantly increase Bozeman's economic vibrancy. (Note: MSU students with established Bozeman, Montana residency are included in U.S. Census data.)
According to recent census figures, the 2008 Gallatin County population is about 87,400 and its county seat, Bozeman, has some 35,100 residents. Montana's Park County’s 2008 population is about 16,100 and its county seat, Livingston, has some 7,300 residents.
Southwest Montana - Bozeman Cost of Living
According to Bozeman, Montana's Prospera Business Network report released May 12, 2008 and based on the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the after tax cost of living for a professional/ managerial household in the city of Bozeman registered at 6% above the national average. The other two Montana cities in the study, Missoula and Kalispell, both ranked above the national average at 4.1% and 1.4% respectively. Bozeman’s composite score of 6% above the national average compares to the previous quarter’s score of 7.1% above the national average.
The ACCRA Cost of Living Index composite score is based on components including housing, utilities, grocery, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods. While Bozeman’s cost of living composite score is above the national average, two component costs (transportation and grocery items) have been below the national average for the last few years.
Bozeman’s above average cost of living continues to be driven up by the cost of the housing component. For the first quarter of 2008, Bozeman’s cost of housing was 19.9 percent above the national average. In the previous quarter, Bozeman’s housing cost was 21.9 percent above the national average. Bozeman’s first quarter 2008 housing cost is comparable to Minneapolis, MN (17.7% above the average) and Bend, OR (17.5% above the average). Bozeman continues to have the highest cost of housing (and overall cost of living) in Montana. The other two Montana cities in the study, Missoula and Kalispell, recorded housing costs at 3.3% below and 1% above the national average, respectively.
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* According to University of Montana professor, Steve Running, who is also a climate scientist, and who has used weather records for the past half century to prove abnormal warming: “In Montana, average annual air temperature has increased about 1 degree, the frost-free growing season length is about 12 days longer than in 1950, annual snowfall has decreased by 6 to 22 inches across the state, snowmelt is occurring two to three weeks earlier than in 1950 and wildfires greater than 1,000 acres have increased six-fold in the last 40 years.” From Montanans for a Healthy Climate
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