Montana’s Frozen Housing Market: What You Need To Know

Nearly 80 Percent Of Montana Homeowners Are Stuck

Almost 80% of homeowners in Montana have an interest rate that is 2-3% lower than average. That's good, right?

Well, according to the Daily Montanan, not so much.

To put it another way, our housing market appears to be "frozen" in Montana. Meaning the people who bought before 2020 when Montana was actually affordable, could not get a loan like the one they have, so they can not afford to sell their home and buy a new one. Essentially freezing the housing market in Montana.

But They Keep Saying Montana Is A PRIME Real Estate Market

Yes, out-of-staters say Montana is a GREAT investment in real estate. Again, that's out-of-staters.

For example, Nick Northern just wrote this article: Why Montana Is One Of The Best States To Buy Real Estate In 2025. Upon reading, this is an out-of-stater telling other out-of-staters to buy Montana for vacations and for rentals.

Montana Has A Big Housing Issue, But It's Not Stopping People From Moving Here

In the same article from the Daily Montanan, they talk about how we simply aren't building enough places for people to live to keep up with demand. The problem just keeps compounding due to lack of action from Montana. "After the pandemic, surrounding states saw a burst of home building, but between 2020 and 2023, Montana was the only state to still lag."

And now, it's not that the prices are "Montana Expensive". Out-of-staters like the jack-wad in Nick's article have driven home prices in Big Sky Country so high, that it's more expensive to live here than Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington.

Bad News, We Can't Just Blame THEM For Montana's Housing Problem

It's NOT just the out-of-staters. We're trampling all over each other to get some of the only available housing in Montana. Also driving up the prices.

How Does Montana Overcome this Crisis?

That's a tough question since we just had an election. One more quote from The Daily Montanan to show you where Montana is at with housing:

"currently there’s a 14,000 housing unit gap, more than triple the amount that existed just a few years ago in 2021.  Put another way: It would take three years of constant building at Montana’s current rate just to meet the demand that already exists, without adding any more demand."

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Is the American Dream dead?