PureWest - Bozeman

Bozeman Home Sales - Number of Transactions in 2010

Stan Feagler — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:15:00 GMT

Bozeman, Montana - In 2010 there were 529 home sales, up from a low of 462 in 2009. The majority, in fact 88% of transactions are sales under $500K. Transactions in this range were boosted by the home buyer tax credit while higher priced sales were hindered by lack of jumbo loan financing. There were 54 sales between $500k and one million compared with only 27 last year. In 2006 there were 109 sales in this price range, roughly four times the current level. There were ten homes sold for over $1.0 million in 2010 compared with over 20 in 2006 through 2008.

From a percentage standpoint, 88% of sale transactions were for homes priced under $500K and 96% are for homes priced under $750K. Only 2% of sales were for homes price over $1.0 million compared with 5% in 2007.

Bozeman Area SF Only Total Number of Sales
	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Under $500K	467	427	418	443	517	702
$500K - $750K	42	23	45	72	83	79
$750 - $1.0MM	10	4	17	17	26	25
$1.0MM - $1.5MM	7	4	12	14	12	7
Over $1.5MM	3	4	10	10	12	3
Total	529	462	502	556	650	816

Bozeman Area Single Family Home Sales
*Percentage of Transactions*
Under $500K	88%	92%	83%	80%	80%	86%
$500K - $750K	8%	5%	9%	13%	13%	10%
$750 - $1.0MM	2%	1%	3%	3%	4%	3%
$1.0MM - $1.5MM	1%	1%	2%	3%	2%	1%
Over $1.5MM	1%	1%	2%	2%	2%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Some Say Housing Shortage in 2011

Stan Feagler — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:27:00 GMT

This past year saw an increase in the number of home sales transactions as well as an increase in the overall dollar volume of sales transactions in the Bozeman Area, Montana. Economists predict that a home shortage, or at least in certain markets, may materialize in 2011. While there are still record foreclosures, the number of people need housing continues to rise each year.

While some markets are down to 6 -7 months of inventory, Bozeman still has ample unsold homes. At the beginning of January, there were $343 million listings as compared to $178 in total sales during 2010. As in many markets, the sub-$500K priced homes are moving well but over $1.0 million is slow. See Bozeman Market Statistics for 2010.

Repost from Forbes.com

Economist: Housing shortage coming in 2011

He says that if new houses aren't built soon in the U.S., there won't be enough next year.

By Alexandra Zendrian of Forbes

more on Forbes.com

The focus of the U.S. real-estate market lately has been the number of foreclosures and people trying to purchase cheap housing. But Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors, says that if Americans don’t start focusing on building new houses, the market will have a much bigger problem on its hands.

“We need one and a half million houses per year just to keep up with population growth,” Wesbury said in an interview with Steve Forbes. “And then if you throw in, you know, fires and tear-downs and just worn-out properties, we need 1.6 million or more per year. Right now, we’re down to about six and a half, seven months’ inventory whether you look at new homes or existing homes.”

Privately owned housing starts in December 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4% less than where it was in November, which had 580,000 housing starts.

Video: Is stimulus enough? Real-estate trends

Housing completion numbers also contribute to this dire picture, with privately owned housing completions reaching a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 768,000 in December 2009. That was down 11.2% from the 865,000 completions in November and down 25.3% from the 1.03 million completions in December 2008.

MSN Money: Find a mortgage under 5%

Some people might shrug these statistics off, considering the number of foreclosures on the market. “Yes there’s foreclosures coming into the market, but we’re only starting right now,” Wesbury says. “... We’re starting one-third of the houses we need just to keep up with population growth, and that can’t last.”

On our blog, 'Listed': Rent is cheap now, but a shortage looms

There were 315,716 properties last month with foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac. These filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. Though last month’s filings were 15% more than a year ago, they were 10% less than in December.

More Real Estate Deals Ahead?

View more MSN videos Go to CNBC

Jason Thomas, chief investment officer for Aspiriant, a California wealth-management firm, says he doesn’t see the foreclosure situation getting better until the labor market picks up. “So many people are getting to a point where they just can’t hold on anymore, and we may see another wave of that if we don’t see a pretty robust turnaround in the labor market,” he says.

The unemployment rate is currently 9.7%, down from 10% at the end of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thesis Fund Management portfolio manager Stephen Roseman says the likelihood of a housing shortage is slim to none. “You need to have an accurate housing turnover number, and right now we have anything but that,” he says.

There is some demand, though, from companies that are scooping up whole floors or housing developments because they have the cash on hand, Roseman says.

And for those people who can get a mortgage, homes are very affordable. The median price for U.S. existing single-family homes in metropolitan areas was $173,200 in 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors, compared with $198,100 in 2008.

Find foreclosures in your area

Mortgage rates are also very low. For instance, both JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are offering 30-year fixed mortgages at 5%, and some can be found for a hair less.

“A mortgage is not difficult to get if you have the right income stream,” says Margaret Starner, senior vice president for the financial services firm Raymond James.

But even if you can get a mortgage, maintaining the income to pay for that mortgage isn’t easy. “There’s a lot of potential problems that can come out if unemployment continues to drag; people deplete their savings and their credit card,” says Michael Ervolini, head of behavioral finance at Cabot Research. “It appears to be more of an income issue than a housing issue that we’re going to be looking at for the next couple of years

Bozeman Area Single Family Home Sales Volume by Price Category for 2010

Stan Feagler — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:55:00 GMT

Bozeman, MT - Key home sales indicators begin to improve in 2010. The total number of sales, the total dollar volume of sales and the average home price all trended up in 2010.

The year 2009 was the lowest sales year from both a dollar volume and transaction number standpoint since 2005. That year was also characterized by marked slowdown in the sales of higher priced homes. As a percentage of sales, sales of homes priced under $500K climbed to 78% of sales from an average of close to 60% in the previous three years.

Bozeman Area Single Family Home Sales - $ Millions By Sales Level
	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Under $500K	$127.1	$120.0	$127.9	$141.4	$169.5	$210.7
$500K - $750K	$24.9	$13.8	$26.9	$42.1	$49.1	$47.6
$750 - $1.0MM	$8.7	$3.2	$14.6	$14.2	$22.6	$20.9
$1.0MM - $1.5MM	$8.7	$5.1	$14.4	$17.4	$15.0	$8.0
Over $1.5MM	$9.0	$11.2	$23.2	$18.7	$24.3	$8.1
Total	$178.4	$153.4	$207.0	$233.8	$280.6	$295.2

Bozeman Area Single Family Home Sales - Percentage of Total Sales
	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Under $500K	71%	78%	62%	60%	60%	71%
$500K - $750K	14%	9%	13%	18%	18%	16%
$750 - $1.0MM	5%	2%	7%	6%	8%	7%
$1.0MM - $1.5MM	5%	3%	7%	7%	5%	3%
Over $1.5MM	5%	7%	11%	8%	9%	3%
Total	*100%*	*100%*	*100%*	*100%*	*100%*	*100%*

The dollar volume of sales for homes price under $500K were $127K comprising 71% of the dollar volume. More typically, homes in this price range represent closer to 60% of total sales. Home sales over $1.0 million totaled $17.7 million for 10 transactions which is down from over $35 million in each year 2006 to 2008 when transactions averaged over 20 per year.

Stan Feagler

PureWest Christie's Great Estates

Bozeman, Big Sky, Paradise Valley

Bozeman Area Residential Sales in 2010 – Single Family Homes

Stan Feagler — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:41:00 GMT

Bozeman area home sales rise in transaction numbers, average price and overall dollar volume in 2010 reversing the downward trend of the previous five years.

Real Estate Listings in the Bozeman Montana Area by Property Type at January 1, 2011

Stan Feagler — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:25:00 GMT

At January 1, 2011, condos and townhomes comprised about 30% of all properties on the Bozeman market and single family homes made up the remaining 70%.

	Condo	Townhome	Single Family	All Listings
Number of Listings	148	40	456	643
Percent	23%	6%	71%	100%

Total Listing Volume in Millions	$31.6	$9.6	$303.1	$343.8
Percent	9%	3%	88%	100%

Average Listing Price	$213,692	$239,837	$664,766	$534,616
Median Listing Price	$169,900	$184,950	$362,400	$294,500

Average Days on Market	177	340	208	210

Single Family Homes – Single family homes make up the majority of listings in the Bozeman Area, comprising 71% of the number of listings and 88% of the total listing dollar volume. The average listing price of single family homes is $664k due to the pull of higher priced homes on the overall average price. About 10% of the listed homes are priced at over $1.0 million and the highest listing is currently priced at $8.9 million. The mid-point or median for a Bozeman area property is $362K and the average home has been on the market 208 days.

Days on Market rises with price point. The graph below show that single family homes price under $300K average 165 days on market while the average climbs to 364 days or just over a year for luxury homes priced at over $1.5 million.

Single Family
Days on Market	Average	Mean
Under $300K	165	129
$300K to $750K	227	159
$750K to $1.5MM	256	227
Over $1.5MM	364	262

Condominiums make up a much smaller percentage of the housing stock in the Bozeman area, comprising only 23% of the number of listings and only 9% of the dollar listing volume. The average listing price of a condominium in the Bozeman area is $213K with a median of $170K.

Days on market for condos averages 179 (6 months) for price points under $300K but climbs to 255 days (about 9 months) when the price is above $300K.

Townhomes represent the smallest category of fixed residential unit in the Bozeman area. At the beginning of the year, there were 40 townhomes listed representing 9% of the overall listing count in numbers and only 3% of the dollar listing volume.

Townhomes also exhibit longer days on market than any other category with those priced below $300K at an average of 269 days and those above $300k averaging a staggering 787 days or 26 months (over 2 years).

	Single				All
Average Days on Market		Family	Condo	Townhome	Listings
Under $300K		165	179	269	180
$300K to $750K		227	255	787	252
$750K to $1.5MM		256			256
Over $1.5MM		364			362

*Bozeman Area including surrounding area such as Bridger Canyon, Trail Creek, Gallatin Gateway, Four Corners, North and Northwest of city.

**Source for all information is Gallatin Association of Realtors MLS

Stan Feagler - PureWest Christie's Great Estates, Montana Real Estate

Bozeman, Big Sky, Paradise Valley Montana

Bozeman Montana Real Estate Listings by Price Category at January 1, 2011

Stan Feagler — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:11:00 GMT

Bozeman Montana Area Real Estate Listings by Price Category at January 1, 2011

The following summarizes the real estate listings for the Bozeman Area* at January 1, 2010.

Listings totaled $343.8** million at the beginning of the year, of which 88% are single family residential. Homes defined as luxury, $750K and above comprised a total of $174.0 million in listings in the ultra-luxury category defined as homes priced over $1.5 million comprised $121 million in total listings (or roughly one third of the total dollar listing volume).

Condos and Townhomes comprise only 12 % of the listing volume at year end and none are priced above $1.5 million.

The following shows the breakdown of residential real estate listings in the Bozeman area at January 1, 2011 in dollar millions.

			Single	Single Family	All	All Listings
	Condo	Townhome	Family	%	Listings	%
0 to $300K	$31.63	$9.6	$45.0	15%	$72.4	21%
$300K to $500k	$22.16	$5.9	$39.0	13%	$47.6	14%
$500k to $750K	$5.55	$3.0	$46.1	15%	$49.2	14%
$750K to $1.0MM	$2.37	$0.7	$26.5	9%	$26.5	8%
$1.0MM to $1.5MM	$1.55		$25.5	8%	$27.0	8%
$1.5MM to $2.0MM			$27.8	9%	$27.8	8%
$2MM to $3MM			$40.4	13%	$40.4	12%
$3MM to $5MM			$25.5	8%	$25.5	7%
Over $5MM			$27.4	9%	$27.4	8%
Total	$31.63	$9.6	$303.1	100%	$343.8	100%

Of the listings under the $300K threshold, almost half were condos and townhomes. The sub-$300K category comprised over half of all listings in the Bozeman area but only one fifth of the dollar volume of listed real estate due to the comparatively low average list price.

The $300K to $750K range make up about 39% of the number of listings and 28% of the dollar volume.

Luxury homes in priced in the range of $750K to $1.5 million totaled 50 or 8% of the total listing count but 16% of the dollar listing volume.

			Single		All
	Condo	Townhome	Family	%	Listings	%
0 to $300K	129	32	187	41%	347	54%
$300K to $500k	14	7	101	22%	122	19%
$500k to $750K	4	1	76	17%	81	13%
$750K to $1.0MM	1		30	7%	30	5%
$1.0MM to $1.5MM			20	4%	20	3%
$1.5MM to $2.0MM			16	4%	17	3%
$2MM to $3MM			15	3%	15	2%
$3MM to $5MM			7	2%	7	1%
Over $5MM			4	1%	4	1%
Total	148	40	456	*100%*	643	*100%*

There are 32 luxury properties priced in the $1.5 to $3.0 million price range (5% of the listing count) and they comprised 20% of the listing dollar volume.

There are 11 homes priced in excess of $3.0 million at the beginning of the year and they comprised 15% of the dollar listing volume.

*Bozeman Area including surrounding area such as Bridger Canyon, Trail Creek, Gallatin Gateway, Four Corners, North and Northwest of city.

**Source for all information is Gallatin Association of Realtors MLS

Stan Feagler

PureWest - Christie's Great Estates

Bozeman, Big Sky, Paradise Valley

Warming Center at Gallatin County Fairgrounds Served about 5 Homeless a Night reposted by Jason Frey

Jason Frey — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:43:00 GMT

About five homeless people a night stayed at temporary warming site at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds last weekend, said Jeff Rupp, president and CEO of the Human Resources Development Council.

Mostly, the people who used the warming center were single homeless people in town, Rupp said Monday night. If the center was a more permanent space and there had been more time to spread the word about its location, more homeless families likely would have come, he said.

The temporary warming center, in Exhibit Hall 3, on the north end of the fairgrounds, opened Thursday and is expected to stay open until the middle of this week, Rupp said. The site was set up as a last resort to help homeless people get out of the bitter cold snap last week.

"We're hoping to get something at the fairgrounds that's more permanent," Rupp said.

The temporary warming center is open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Blankets and cots will be available, but food will not be provided.

The Bozeman City Commission was slated on Monday night to consider contributing $6,000 from the city's general fund to the Human Resources Development Council to help pay to open a more permanent warming center.

As of press time, the commission hadn't yet taken up the issue because of a lengthy agenda.

The center that HRDC, and its partners in the Greater Gallatin Homeless Action Coalition, hope to open is initially only intended to be open every night for three months to provide shelter for the homeless this winter. The space would be used to gather information about what kind of a shelter the community needs in the long-term.

The Greater Gallatin Homeless Action Coalition decided in December to take action to make sure the homeless don't freeze to death this winter. In January 2007, a homeless man froze to death in a U-Haul truck.

The coalition is a group of agencies that includes the HRDC, Greater Gallatin United Way, the Salvation Army, the Methodist Church and individual volunteers.

By Amanda Ricker, Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Case Shiller - The Real Estate Markets That Will Thrive and Fall in 2011

Stan Feagler — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:21:00 GMT

Well, Big Sky and Bozeman didn't make the top 10 Real Estate Markets that will Thrive in 2011 but they also didn't make theCase Shiller: Top 15 Markets That Will Fall in 2011

Neither did any other resort or mountain communities.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160; While Big Sky experienced the price run-up in 2007 -2008, Bozeman home prices remained less inflated and have seen less decline as a result, at least in the $300,000 and below range.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160; PureWest Christie's Great Estates Agents have experienced a dearth of transactions over $1.0 mm during the first half of 2010 but the luxury home market in Bozeman is beginning to thaw.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160;

With an unemployment rate of 7.2% in November, Montana is well below the national average and despite the recent recession, Bozeman has continued to grow at over 3% anually.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160; Macro demographic trends all favor relocation to Bozeman.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160; Mountains, skiing 30 minutes away, three blue ribbon trout streams, hunting, hiking and camping for the outdoors enthusiast, and the friendliest population North of the Mason- Dixson line.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160;

All these growth trends bode well for Bozeman real estate.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160; It's a place where the young life-style oriented professional wants to live and companies like Right Now Technologies find a willing pool of talented employees ready to move.&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160;

While Bozeman may not have made the Case Shiller top 10 list, it is probably due more to size than projected percentage growth

&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160;

The 10 Real Estate Markets That Will Thrive in 2011

Gus Lubin and Anika Anand | Dec. 20, 2010, 1:47 PM | 58,117 | 5

Image: StevenM_61 on flickr

A few islands of safety in a double dipping national housing market are found in the South and Midwest.

&http://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.comhttp://www.purewestproperties.com#160;

Trulia's Tara-Nicholle Nelson says these areas "never had the inflammatory price bubble in 2005-06, so they simply haven't had the dramatic price deflation or foreclosure crisis experienced in other parts of the country."

San Francisco also makes the list based on strong secular trends.

Trulia picked the top markets based on affordability and trends in job growth and migration

Case Shiller: Here Are The 15 Housing Markets That Will Fall The Most By 2012

Gus Lubin and Leah Goldman | Nov. 30, 2010, 10:49 AM | 344,591 | 14

Image: greghartmann on flickr

Case-Shiller's September housing report came out worse than expected, confirming to any doubters that the housing double dip is here.

National home prices dropped 1.5% in September.

The new data will worsen Case-Shiller's already bearish outlook for the housing market. Earlier this month, it forecast a 7.1 percent drop in prices from Q2 '10 to Q2 '11, with price stagnation through Q2 '12.

This is a brutal forecast, which would have wide economic consequences. Five years after the housing peak, markets in Florida, Nevada and California would remain down around 60 percent.

Wolverines Warrant Endangered Species Protection

Jason Frey — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:12:00 GMT

The wolverine, the elusive mammal that biologists believe was wiped out in the continental United States before re-establishing itself in the northern Rocky Mountains, warrants protection on the endangered species list, the U.S. Wildlife Service said Monday.

However, the service said it is "precluded" from actually listing the animal because of more pressing wildlife issues in the United States.

The announcement was met with measured celebration from conservation groups that sued FWS to re-examine the wolverine's status last year after the agency had previously found it did not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. A Montana state biologist was more wary of a move to list the species.

In its finding, the FWS cited global warming as the major threat to the wolverines. Specifically, wolverines need deep snow to reproduce. Female wolverines dig elaborate dens in the snow to protect their offspring from predators and the elements, according to the wildlife service. Current data trends suggest the wolverines' cold and snowy habitat could be reduced 63 percent by 2099.

Around Bozeman, wolverines have been seen in the Bridger Mountains to the north and the Gallatin and Madison mountains to the south, according to data from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. FWP data shows the highest density of wolverines in the area has been observed in the Bridgers and Gallatins.

However, the animal is famously reclusive and difficult to study. Scientists believe fewer than 300 wolverines live in the contiguous 48 states.

In 2008, the FWS ruled the wolverine did not warrant protection, stating the population in the United States was not distinct from the more robust population in Canada. That prompted a lawsuit.

"We're quite relieved that a correction was made so that the Fish and Wildlife Service does find the wolverine to warrant protection," said David Gaillard, a Rocky Mountain region representative for the Defenders of Wildlife in Bozeman. "We're happy we corrected that. We're disappointed that it's not yet listed. We feel time is running out."

But FWS officials say the effects of climate change on the wolverine "are not imminent."

"As a result, the agency's limited resources must be devoted to work on listing determinations for species at greater risk of extinction," the service said in a news release.

Montana allows five wolverines to be trapped every year and has the most extensive data set on the animals of any state, said Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Kurt Alt.

He said wolverines by their nature disperse widely, but genetic studies have shown that wolverines from the Central Idaho, Greater Yellowstone and northwest Montana ecosystems interact and said the population is sustainable at current levels.

He said listing the species could frustrate efforts to relocate wolverines to states where they have been exterminated.

"I don't know what (listing) buys but shifting authority," he said.

Realtors and Builders ask Bozeman City to Lower Impact Fees

Stan Feagler — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Like many areas of the country, new building of residential real estate has fallen off a cliff in 2008 and as not yet recovered. Once viewed as an easy source of increasing revenue, Bozeman, like many cities in Montana and through out the nation raised impact fees to shore up expanding city budgets. In addition, Bozeman home builders were required to pick up the tab for much of the new infrastructure associated with new developments. During the early 2000's, there was enought cushion in project plans to accomodate the increased costs, but when the market started to soften, many of the projects went bust leaving the infrastructure not complete and the city budgets in deficit.

To kickstart building, Montana builders and realtors are asking cities like Bozeman to lower their impact fees.

Posted: Friday, October 15, 2010 12:15 am | Updated: 5:55 pm, Thu Oct 14, 2010.

Realtors, homebuilders associations asking city to lower impact fees AMANDA RICKER, Chronicle Staff Writer The Bozeman Daily Chronicle | 18 comments

Local realtor and builder associations have asked the city of Bozeman to reduce impact fees charged on new homes and businesses.

Both the Gallatin Association of Realtors and Southwest Montana Building Industry Association have asked the Bozeman City Commission to cut the amount of street impact fees the city charges. The associations argue such a reduction would help stimulate the local housing market.

"We realize that the impact fee schedule will be revisited in the near future, but that could take as long as two years to complete," states a Sept. 20 letter to the commission from SWMBIA President Anders Lewendal and Governmental Affairs Chairman David Graham.

"In the meantime, Bozeman's impact fees will continue to remain in the top 5 percent of the entire nation and continue to cripple any chance of a reversal in home prices within our city," the letter said.

The city uses impact fees to pay for growth and keep existing residents from paying those costs through higher taxes.

Bozeman currently charges impact fees for streets, fire services, water and sewers.

Together, the fees come to $11,117 for a single-family home.

The Gallatin Association of Realtors and Southwest Montana Building Industry Association say they're only asking to reduce street impact fees because they're some of the highest impact fees the city charges and they're some of the most difficult to quantify.

Street impact fees pay to increase the capacity of local roads, such as widening a street or adding a traffic light. It can be difficult to put a number to how much a new building will increase traffic.

Currently, the city charges 60 percent of the maximum allowed by law for street impact fees. When commissioners chose that percentage in December 2007, they opted not to go for the full 100 percent in hopes of helping the already struggling building economy.

At 60 percent, street impact fees on a 1,500- to 2,499-square-foot single family home are $3,432. The street impact fees for a bank with a drive-thru are $20,164 per 1,000 square feet. And fees for a small retail space are $5,964.

Both GAR and SWMBIA that's still too high.

GAR has specifically asked city officials to cut street impact fees to 30 percent of the maximum allowed.

"We really need the city to start to do something to help spur the economy," said Wendy Wilson, president of the Gallatin Association of Realtors. "We take the city's word on it when they say Bozeman is business-friendly so I think their actions need to support what they say they do."

GAR, which represents some 650 real estate agents in Gallatin County and the surrounding area, is asking for temporary relief from street impact fees.

"Clearly we know we need to pay for services," Wilson said. "We're saying, ‘Hey, give people a break, given them the opportunity and watch (the housing industry) turn around.'"

SWMBIA, which represents more than 350 homebuilding and remodeling industry members, wants street impact fees permanently reduced.

Its letter to the city commission argues that the 2007 study that set street impact fees doesn't apply anymore because it was based on a 5 percent growth rate for the city.

"Currently that rate is approaching negative," states SWMBIA's Sept. 20 letter.

Every three years, the city hires outside consultants to study how much it should charge in impact fees and it's time for the city to look into the issue again, Assistant Planning Director Chris Saunders said. State law requires local governments to justify the impact fees they charge through studies.

Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss said this week that city officials will consider GAR and SWMBIA's requests.

"I think they had some reasonable requests in there and we're considering some of those on the planning board," Krauss said. "And as they make their way through the planning board, I'm sure they'll come before the city commission."

The Bozeman City Commission on Monday plans to review how the city's impact fees were created in order to prepare for the upcoming studies.

Amanda Ricker can be reached at aricker@dailychronicle.com or 582-2628

Stan Feagler

PureWest - Christie's Great Estates