2025 Buyer Migration Report

Local Market Dominance: The vast majority of residential real estate activity continues to be driven by Montanans. In 2025, buyers already residing within the state purchased 2,353 homes, capturing 75.13% of the total market share. This reinforces that the core of our housing demand remains locally sustained.

Leading External Markets: California remains the primary source of out-of-state buyers, contributing 140 sales (4.47%). Colorado held steady as the second-largest feeder market with 64 transactions (2.04%). We saw a shift in the third spot this year, as Washington moved up the rankings to surpass Texas, accounting for 56 sales (1.79%).

Secondary Migration Trends: Beyond the top three external markets, Florida led this next tier with 48 sales (1.53%), followed by Texas (40 sales, 1.28%) and Idaho (35 sales, 1.12%). The list of top contributing states was rounded out by Arizona (33 sales, 1.05%), Minnesota (28 sales, 0.89%), and Utah (23 sales, 0.73%).

International Activity: International demand remained minimal, with only 7 transactions (0.22%) involving buyers from outside the United States.

The Annual Buyer Migration report is a comprehensive study that analyzes the number of Montana homes that were purchased by out-of-state buyers. This study only examines residential properties, which represent 75% of all annual sales: Single-Family, Condominium, Townhouse, and De-titled Manufactured Homes. The information in these reports only accounts for the data reported to the BSCMLS.