After an 8-month drop, home prices have seen a slight increase. The increase (taken from the S&P/Case Shiller 20-city index) shows a rise of 0.7% from March to April, however they are still down 4.4% from the previous year.

Analysts say there could be several reasons for this, one being a trend in home purchases as the weather gets warmer – but still saying it is too early to tell. This is something that happens every spring with warmer weather, psychologically people are more into the idea of spending than they are during the fall/winter months.

A slight increase in home prices in the month of April.

The strongest market belongs to the Washington Metro area, however the worst spots were Detroit (which has been dealing with a lot of economy issues outside of real estate) and Minneapolis, they had an 11% price decrease in year-to-year analysis.

Another thing to be considered is the fact that the ‘Home Buyer Tax Credit’ was causing homes prices to rise, so after the pricing has been adjusted for the credit, the resulting figures could potentially be more favorable for the results.

Housing predictor says that Bozeman should expect to see a 2% home-sales appreciation throughout 2011. In general, Montana was able to fight off the extremes of the housing market crash that pretty much devastated markets throughout the country.

As prices increase incrementally and more people desire to move to Montana the market could begin to stabilize, however, my perspective is that we are still far from getting back to pre-crash market days. In the meantime, this data gives sellers something to work with when selling their Montana real estate and for sellers who you are looking to purchase their own piece of real estate in either Big Sky or Bozeman.

Do you think the rise will continue throughout the summer? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

I love holidays – I really love holidays in the summer. Memorial Day, Labor Day and especially the middle one – 4th of July. By this time of the year summer is in full-swing in every corner of America so by this time everyone is tan, the kids are playing outside religiously and television sort of becomes an afterthought. It’s no wonder the television stations stop showing their best shows between June and September, because this is when people are camping, playing and taking in all of the sunshine they can before it disappears.

July 4th is no exception – with friends, family, beer, barbecues, ice cream and fireworks the holiday is bound to be awesome. That smell of grilled burgers, tasty ice cream and fireworks blasting and popping in the air.

We love fireworks!

In Montana, those large exploding shells are legal – this is not the case nationwide, and it definitely helps to make it more fun. The kids love to see their parents light the firework as the one who is delegated as the official lighter, lights the fireworks then runs off hoping to not burn themselves. Is a fun game of cat and mouse!

For me, Montana sort of frames the ideal 4th of July: beautiful scenery, amazing summers, everyone barbecuing and kids laughing. To get the scoop on Big Sky, Montana 4th of July activities, click here.

This 4th lands on a Monday, giving us a three day weekend, which also has it’s own benefits! We hope everyone has a terrific holiday and be safe, it seems like every year without fail we read about somebody hurting themselves very badly.