The 46th Annual Economic Outlook Seminar came to Montana virtually this February, hosted by the University of Montana. The topic was “The Path Forward: How COVID-19 Has Shaped the Economy”. The two-day event was full of guest speakers with relevant expertise in the economy on the city, state, and national levels. “2020 was poised to be a good year for Montana’s economy. But then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit American shores. By early spring, the U.S. had declared a state of emergency and states began taking action – limiting economic activity, closing schools, and issuing stay-at-home orders. Travel was restricted or outright banned, and airlines and interstate travel took sharp hits. By April, states were hit with record unemployment as the real economic change took hold.” -economicoutlookseminar.com

As always, ERA Landmark looks forward to attending this seminar each year to see trends and projections in the real estate industry. The change up of being completely virtual while hosting hundreds of viewers went off without a hitch, though our agents missed the opportunity of meeting and connecting in person. Here are some of their biggest takeaways they learned from the seminar:

“Montana economy has weathered COVID better than some states but does have challenges. How we come out of the next 8 months will have a big effect on the next couple years.” -Mitch Immenschuh

“Keep on, keeping on.” -Ray Atteberry

“[I’m surprised] that even smaller towns saw a large uptick in buyers. [For the most part,] everyone felt like the trend in real estate would continue.” -Mark Meissner

“The growth in some areas of MT compared to Bozeman [is surprising]. Seems like Bozeman is growing the fastest while some seem to be staying stagnant but share similar housing issues. Businesses were all affected by COVID but it seems that MT handled it well since we are not a highly populated state.” -Austin Beveridge