Well, sort of.

If you have plans of buying and owning a home here in Montana, you’re more than aware that it’s going to cost you. Tens of thousands of Montanans are finding that even with a decent job and a little bit of savings, they can’t afford a home in certain areas of the state.

Over the last few years home prices have skyrocketed across the country, and it seems that Montana has led the charge. Plus, with high interest rates, the dream of being a homeowner feels a little more like a nightmare.

In towns like Bozeman, Kalispell, and Missoula the prices have increased significantly since 2021 with the overall “value” going up hundreds of thousands of dollars. Perfect example, I was checking out a townhouse recently in Bozeman and the asking price was well over 500 thousand dollars. The same property sold 3 years ago for a little over 300 thousand.

I can’t speak for you, but I have an issue paying half a million dollars for a place to live with no backyard. However, new information points to the fact that Montana housing might not be that expensive after all.

Looking to buy a home in Montana?

The folks at Lending Tree released data that showed the most expensive towns in America to buy a home and Montana was nowhere to be found.

As you look at the map of towns that are the most expensive you will see our neighbors in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming all make the list, but not Montana.

It should probably be noted that a few of those towns are “tourist” towns but so are Big Sky, Bozeman, and Whitefish. Does that mean we are making a much bigger deal about the housing prices in Montana than we should be?

No. I have a few doubts about the math with all of this.

It’s still crazy expensive to live here, but if you spend any time on websites like Realtor or Zillow, you will notice that home prices have started to drop around The Treasure State, and while they may still be out of the average Montanans price range, at least it’s a start.

Montana man Richard Rogers was convicted of threatening former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R–Bakersfield) after expressing anger about a Chinese spy balloon floating over his city in Billings.

Rogers delivered threats to McCarthy’s office during multiple phone calls, including making harassing calls to McCarthy’s office and the FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022, where he routinely used vulgar and obscene language.

The big picture: The federal jury found Rogers guilty on three counts – threatening to harm a member of Congress and two counts of making harassing telephone calls.

• Rogers faces a potential sentence of up to six years in prison and a fine for threatening a member of Congress, as well as a separate penalty for the harassment counts.
• While awaiting sentencing on January 31, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters allowed Rogers to remain free without custody.
• Rogers, during his trial, argued that his calls were a form of civil disobedience and protected under the First Amendment, while the prosecutors maintained that his behavior crossed the line with threats and verbal abuse.
• Despite his guilty verdict, Rogers maintains that he never threatened anyone and expressed dissatisfaction with his defense attorneys for not adequately presenting his case.