Western Montana County Listing Conditions: August 2020 to August 2026

Study 13 · Public Data Analysis

Research question: How did broad listing conditions change between the August 2020 market and August 2026 in Ravalli, Missoula and Flathead counties?

Across all three counties, August 2026 had more active listings, longer median market time, a larger share of listings with price reductions and a lower pending-to-active ratio than August 2020. This is a comparison of broad listing markets, not a measure of luxury demand or an individual seller's outcome.

The six-year change

Active listing counts rose 68.6% in Ravalli County, 84.5% in Missoula County and 51.9% in Flathead County. Median days on market increased from 68 to 75 in Ravalli, 51 to 72 in Missoula and 53 to 75 in Flathead.

Pending ratios moved in the opposite direction. Ravalli fell from 1.01 pending listings per active listing to 0.22. Missoula fell from 1.33 to 0.32, and Flathead from 1.14 to 0.23. This is not months of supply because it does not use a closed-sales rate.

The August 2026 snapshot

Ravalli County's median asking price was $775,000, 7.4% below August 2025, while its active count was 1.5% higher. Missoula's median asking price was $745,000, 10.4% higher year over year, with 5.9% fewer active listings. Flathead's $895,000 listing median was 5.1% lower, with 6.7% fewer active listings.

What buyers can learn

More active inventory and a lower pending ratio can mean more alternatives to inspect than in the unusually tight August 2020 market. A 17.6% to 22.6% monthly price-reduction share also shows that some sellers adjusted asking prices. It does not establish the discount a specific seller will accept.

What sellers can learn

The comparison highlights the cost of treating 2020 conditions as current. Buyers in August 2026 had a broader active set, and listings spent longer on the market at the median. Sellers still need a property-specific comparison because county aggregates combine different cities, property types, price tiers and conditions.

Methodology and limits

1. Download Realtor.com's county historical monthly inventory CSV on September 29, 2026.
2. Select FIPS 30081 Ravalli, 30063 Missoula and 30029 Flathead. Confirm one row per county-month.
3. Compare August 2020 and August 2026 to control for calendar month. Use the provider's current historical file, which can revise prior observations.
4. Retain active count, median days on market, price-reduced share and pending ratio definitions from the provider data dictionary. Verify quality_flag is 0 for every published county row.
5. Calculate count changes from unrounded values. Do not relabel asking prices as sold prices or pending ratio as months of supply.

Realtor.com cautions that smaller geographies and markets with partial or changing listing coverage can be volatile. These county figures are broad context, not evidence for a neighborhood, city, luxury segment, waterfront property or individual address.

Suggested citation: MT Lux Real Estate. Western Montana County Listing Conditions: August 2020 to August 2026. September 29, 2026. Download the methods and source fingerprint, or read the companion guide.