Headlines across the nation are declaring Wyoming and Montana as having the fastest-selling real estate markets.
But real estate agents and mortgage lenders in these markets offer a more nuanced and detailed look at what’s happening with home sales from the Canadian border to Cheyenne.
A study recently published by ViewHomes puts Montana, Alaska and Wyoming as the top three states for fastest-selling real estate, based on 150,000 Zillow listings and what percentage are still on the market after 30 days.
In Montana, 15.6% of residential properties sat on the market for more than 30 days, according to the Zillow data, while in Alaska that number is 17.6% and in Wyoming it’s 18.24%.
These percentages come in the aftermath of less rosy news revealed in a Redfin survey that found 71% of active real estate agents did not close on a single home sale in 2024.
What Really Pushed Wyoming Up?
Ranking states by the percentage of home listings still on the market after 30 days reveals something about both the desirability of a location and the total number of homes on the market, according to Realtors and a mortgage broker contacted by Cowboy State Daily.
As much as those percentages show Montana and Wyoming among the states where “properties are selling the fastest,” these stats also reflect relatively small populations of homebuyers and limited inventory.
“There’s 3% inventory statewide,” Annie Wedgewood told Cowboy State Daily. President of Wyoming REALTORS, a statewide industry group, Wedgewood sells homes in Rock Springs and Sweetwater County, where 2.05% of existing homes are up for sale.
“Natrona is at 1.79% and Park County, however, is at 5.63%,” said Wedgewood.
While the inventory might be limited, “We still have people coming in and we still have people that are wanting to upgrade and we have first-time home buyers. That's a huge one is the population of first-time home buyers that is out there,” Wedgewood said.
Wedgewood said Montana and Wyoming might have a low percentage of homes that stay on the market past 30 days because there’s a small inventory of homes for sale. Plus, these states are attractive to those still buying homes, even with mortgage interest rates hovering between 6% and 7%.
“The people wanting to go from renting to owning so that they have that personal equity — now that's a huge one that I see as well,” said Wedgewood.
David Feitveit, a Realtor with PureWest Real Estate in Lakeside, Montana, offered a similar take.
“It’s a matter of low inventory,” said Feitveit, who said his large, statewide firm is “finally seeing an uptick in listings.”
As expected, what Feitveit called “the three Ds of real estate” continue to stimulate demand: divorce, debt and death.
“Those are the three big reasons you have to sell a house,” said Feitveit, noting that Montana’s low percentage of homes on the market past 30 days might be partially driven by would-be sellers pulling their properties off the market.
He identified homes in the $750,000 to $2 million range as “the dead zone right now.”
Broadly speaking, those homes are owned by would-be sellers who would like to upgrade or downsize, but can’t bring themselves to trade a 2% or 3% mortgage interest rate for one over 6%.
“A lot of that stuff has dropped off the market,” said Feitveit, who remains busy with three closings this week.
Luxury homes like this $8.5 million lakeside getaway in Rollins, Montana, are selling well in Montana, according to a local Realtor and a mortgage broker contacted by Cowboy State Daily. But both questioned a recent study that found Montana to be the fastest-selling real estate market in the U.S. (PureWest) 
The real estate industry in Wyoming accounted for $8.5 billion or 17.1% of the gross state product in 2024, according to research compiled by Wyoming REALTORS, a statewide industry group. Best sellers include homes for first-time homebuyers, like this property listed in Rock Springs for $250,000. (Wyoming REALTORS)
Craving Human Contact
Montana’s place atop the list of fastest-selling real estate markets also might be driven by the steady demand for high-end second homes.
“I have heard that the luxury market is still moving quite well or starting to,” said Ed Nissan, a loan officer with CrossCounty Mortgage in Whitefish, Montana.
In addition to luxury properties on Flathead Lake and other scenic locations around Northwest Montana, Nissen is seeing homes priced under $600,000 moving well.
Montana might have the smallest percentage of homes remaining on the market past 30 days, but Nissen said describing the market as “fast-selling” doesn’t tell the whole story.
In fact, in some ways, real estate transactions have slowed down from quick clicks on a computer to face-to-face meetings with aspiring borrowers.
“Two years ago, there were over 400,000 loan officers in the country, and there's now about 95,000 loan officers,” said Nissen. “So, a lot of people have left the business.”
That means there are fewer loan officers available to work with clients. And many of those clients, said Nissen, harbor a growing distrust of information gleaned from internet searches.
That’s one reason why Nissen said he’s spending more time guiding transactions toward closing.
“I'm spending a lot of time talking through scenarios with people on how do we make it work? And so, I find that kind of interesting that the need is still out there,” said Nissen. “Some of these people I've talked to have talked to two or three other loan people, and they're not getting their answers. I think people used to maybe get their answers on the internet or they just made quicker decisions when rates were 3%, didn't ask as many questions.
“Now that rates are higher, they're taking their time. I'm also meeting with people in person. Way more zoom calls. Because it's way easier to kind of explain these complex situations to float all the payments while they move from one house to another.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
