The cost of living in Bozeman dropped nearly 9 percent between the first and second quarters of this year, according to a recently released report by Prospera Business Network.
Driving that drop were housing costs, which dipped from 2.9 percent above the national average to 5.8 percent below it in that same time period, the report states.
Single-family home prices have continued to fall in Bozeman, Gallatin Association of Realtors President Rich Mayo said Monday. With mortgage rates hovering between 4 percent and 5 percent, home sales and construction starts appear to be on the uptick.
“It continues to be a buyer’s market,” Mayo said. “What I’ve noticed is more new home building than in the last four years.”
Calling the trend “encouraging,” Mayo attributed the rise in single-family housing starts to decreased lot prices in existing subdivisions, particularly in northwest Bozeman.
Other indicators in Prospera’s report; groceries, utilities, transportation, health care and other goods and services; remained essentially stagnant.
The report, which shows Bozeman to be among the costlier cities in Montana, also shows that the gaps are narrowing between Bozeman, Missoula and Kalispell.
Bozeman’s cost of living is about 1.2 percent higher than the national average, while Missoula and Kalispell are running less than a percentage point below the average.
The cost-of-living index helps businesses considering locating to Bozeman size up the city for its employees, Prospera Executive Director Stuart Leidner said Monday.
It helps businesses “gauge what (their) employees are faced with out there,” he said. With the cost of living declining, “their dollars are going to be able to go further for their employees.”
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