Published September 29, 2026 · By Ashley Inglis
Study 12 · Public Data Analysis
Research question: How did Zillow's modeled typical home value change across six Bitterroot Valley cities from August 2019 through August 2026?
The long-run shift was large in every included city, but the latest one-year movement was much smaller. Since August 2019, the six city indexes rose between 84.0% and 91.9%. From August 2025 to August 2026, the range was 0.6% to 2.8%.
Six city trajectories, one consistent index
| City | Aug. 2019 | Aug. 2021 | Aug. 2026 | 1-year change | Change since Aug. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | $289,261 | $449,487 | $533,379 | 0.9% | 84.4% |
| Stevensville | $327,160 | $514,271 | $620,424 | 0.6% | 89.6% |
| Florence | $357,669 | $550,526 | $658,282 | 0.8% | 84.0% |
| Corvallis | $357,837 | $561,761 | $671,039 | 2.1% | 87.5% |
| Victor | $193,993 | $300,567 | $372,249 | 1.3% | 91.9% |
| Darby | $303,056 | $485,100 | $569,324 | 2.8% | 87.9% |
All bars use the same 0% to 100% scale. This is change in ZHVI, not cumulative appreciation for every home.
Hamilton's modeled typical value moved from $289,261 in August 2019 to $533,379 in August 2026, an 84.4% increase. Stevensville moved from $327,160 to $620,424, an 89.6% increase. Victor posted the largest percentage change in the comparison, but it also began with the lowest modeled value.
The latest year looks different from the seven-year view
One-year changes through August 2026 were positive but modest: 0.6% in Stevensville, 0.8% in Florence, 0.9% in Hamilton, 1.3% in Victor, 2.1% in Corvallis and 2.8% in Darby. The contrast shows why a multi-year headline should not be reused as a current pace.
The series also moved unevenly inside the seven-year period. For example, each included city had a higher August 2022 index value than August 2023. The path was not a straight annual increase.
What ZHVI can and cannot say
ZHVI is designed to represent the typical value of the middle tier of the housing stock, using property-level Zestimate changes. It is not a median of the homes sold during the month. That makes it useful for a consistent value trend, but not for counting transactions or describing today's asking inventory.
The city series is broad. It does not isolate luxury homes, ranches, acreage, waterfront, new construction, property condition or individual neighborhoods. It also cannot establish the value change of a particular home.
Methodology
- Download Zillow's city ZHVI all-homes, mid-tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted monthly CSV on September 29, 2026.
- Select Montana rows for Hamilton, Stevensville, Florence, Corvallis, Victor and Darby. Confirm one row per named city and retain Zillow region IDs.
- Use August 31 values for 2019, 2021, 2025 and 2026. Calculate percentage change as latest value divided by earlier value minus one.
- Round displayed dollar values to whole dollars and changes to one decimal place. Calculations use unrounded source values.
- Do not convert ZHVI change into property-level appreciation, a sale-price claim or a forecast.
Suggested citation: MT Lux Real Estate. Bitterroot Valley Home Values: A 2019 to 2026 Zillow Index Study. September 29, 2026. Download the method and source fingerprint, or read the companion article.
For a current Bitterroot property comparison, contact Ashley Inglis or call (406) 880-5985.
Data and sources
Derived from: Zillow City ZHVI CSV retrieved September 29, 2026, https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. The underlying listing exports are not published.
Download aggregate CSV