Real-estate values are influenced by several factors, income growth population growth employment growth and interest rate. When looking at Yellowstone County and the current price movements and whether the appreciation is solid or sordid, looking at the underlying factors might lead to a conclusion

First is income

#1 since 2001 the median family is 34.67% higher 

Yellowstone County is 51.44% higher

 

Second is employment

#1 since 2001 the Number employed is 18.74% higher 

 

Third is Population

#1 since 2001 the population is 18.01% higher, which translates into a need for a total of 9,909 housing units, ownership and rentals  

 

Fourth is Interest rate

#1 since 2001 the Interest rate is 37.3% lower or stated another way the average sales priced home in 2001 was $124,111 you could pay $165,500 in 2013 and the payment would be the same and add in the median family increase in income (34.7%) and the purchase price could be $222,878 with the finical impact of purchasing being approximately the same

So the here are results of the first four items on housing prices in Yellowstone county, as stated above you can see that pricing within the market approximates interest decline and wages received increase

The average PITI payment for a home in Yellowstone County is 36.35% the median family income is up 34.67%, I venture a pretty close match. The average pay for a job is up 51.44% indicating there is probably some room for price to move up

 

 

Yet the question to ponder is when you review the number of homes sold….. The projected total sales for 2013 are just 7% higher than 2001 matching neither population nor employment growth. With the other factors, what would be the underlying cause of disconnect of sales to the population/ employment growth?