Montana
Montana And Idaho Housing Affordability Crisis: What You Need To Know
If anyone thinks all the conversation about building affordable housing in Montana is simply election-year rhetoric, new info from the National Association of REALTORS® should convince you otherwise.
The association’s latest report on the “Affordability Distribution Score” shows Montana, and Idaho are now the “least affordable” for local homeownership, even surpassing California. Montana’s score is just 0.38. A “zero” on the index is when no one can afford a home in a given market.
The REALTORS® report shows a marked trend over the past couple of years, especially since the pandemic, not only driven by higher home prices but also the corresponding climb in interest rates. That’s put homeownership out of the reach of many families and individuals.
An analysis of more than median Montana home prices
The REALTORS® Affordability Distribution Score considers far more than median home prices. As opposed to the Housing Affordability Index, or HAI, which the government commonly uses, the Distribution Score looks at affordability for “all income percentiles”. It also analyzes how affordable the active inventory of homes currently on the market, instead of just the ones recently sold.
That trend has been mirrored here in Montana. Recent reports from the Missoula Association of REALTORS® have illustrated not only the short supply of homes but also how homes above $750,000 have stayed the market longer over the past couple of years.
Change in Commissions Policy May Lower Home Prices
Comparing scores
Montana’s score of 0.38 is slightly higher than Idaho’s, which is #2 on the list at 0.40. California, which has largely driven home prices across the West over the past 30 years, is at 0.42.
At the start of the pandemic in 2020, Montana’s affordability index was 0.70, just below the national index of 8.6. In 2017, when the state’s housing market was heating up, the index was 0.63. Idaho was 0.74.
Among the least affordable states, California was $3, followed by Hawaii and Oregon. Iowa, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan were the five most affordable states in the report.
Montana Town Names That Celebrate How Big and Awesome It Is
It’s the fourth-largest state, so why wouldn’t Montana have town names that celebrate how big and wonderful it is?
Gallery Credit: Ashley
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
-
Crypto1 minute agoVietnam Gov’t seeks Bybit’s support in developing cryptocurrency market – TNGlobal
-
Finance9 minutes agoHow Applied Materials Is Driving Transformation of the Finance Function with SAP Taulia
-
Fitness11 minutes agoPhysical fitness is linked to brain health in young adults, but the effects differ by sex
-
Movie Reviews24 minutes agoMovie Review: Travolta’s “Propeller: One-Way Night Coach” is One for the Ages — All Ages
-
World31 minutes ago
A new kind of date makes personal to-do lists a reason to get together with friends
-
Lifestyle1 hour agoHow having zero points in tennis — or ‘love’ — came to sound so sweet
-
Technology1 hour agoAmazon develops a warehouse robot workers can speak to
-
World1 hour agoAlbino buffalo nicknamed ‘Donald Trump’ becomes sensation at Bangladesh’s national zoo for its blond hair
