Montana's Affordable Housing Dilemma

Maps propped up in Missoula City Council chambers Tuesday showed three Montanas. The first was Montana in 1996. The few counties highlighted in red—including Missoula County—indicated where the average home price outpaced the average household income. The second, Montana in 2006, showed much more red, almost all of the western third of the state. 30 percent of the homes sold in Montana last year were sold to out-of-staters.

Missoula’s average lot price (under one acre in the urban area) was $14,044 in 1990. In 2006 it was $95,000.

The subdivision review process costs about $3,000 per lot.

The total average cost to build on a lot jumped from $104,013 in 1996 to $170,776 in 2006, a 64 percent increase.