MISSOULA — We told you last summer that there were virtually no apartments available for rent in Missoula, and not much has changed since then.
That’s due to an influx in renters moving to Montana during the COVID-19 pandemic -- and an already low inventory of available units.
The rental vacancy is still low in 2021. According to a recent market report by Sterling CRE, at the end of last year, the vacancy rate was .95% as compared to a national rate of 5%.
More than 400 new units are expected to undergo construction this year but officials warn those will take time to build.
Commercial Real Estate Advisor Matt Mellott says he doesn’t expect rent prices to go down in Missoula, but says demand could be met as more units open up.
"The good news from a renter’s standpoint is that there’s a bunch of new projects in the pipeline that should deliver in the next year, and then there’s more that keep filtering in,” Mellott said.
“It’s usually at least a year and sometimes more of a wait time. But as tthose units start to deliver if everything else stayed the same, then you would have more options to pick from,” he continued.
Other factors will determine if the new units being built across Missoula will be enough to bring the vacancy rate back up.
Mellott says he knows high-density housing is controversial but is one way to address the issue.
