To rent or to buy?  We've kicked that question around after moving to Missoula over the summer.

Hmmm.....maybe the question is answering itself.

Housing prices in the Missoula area are on pace to see the largest year to year increase in more than a decade.

According to Brint Wahlberg, a local real estate agent, the median sales price of all homes sold in the urban area this year was an 8.14 percent increase over the same time period last year

Unless there's a dramatic decrease in sale prices after results come in for November and December - this year will be the largest year-over-year percentage increase since 2004.

The data represent roughly 1,200 homes sold in the Missoula urban area and surrounding communities such as Lolo, Bonner, East Missoula, Clinton and Mullan Road.

Will the numbers continue to rise?  Wahlberg says "the housing price bubble and subsequent crash of 2008-2011 is still fresh in people’s minds and the recent price increases of nearly 40 percent since 2010 are a reminder that the old adage of 'what goes up must come down' often hold true with real estate.

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