may be attributed, in part, to the multi-family building that took place in 2012. A spike in permits issued in 2011 led to a significant number of apartments on the market in 2012, which increased supply over demand.
Rental Occupancy Figure 10: Both types of distressed sales increased in 2012
Figure 11: While the number of distressed sales increased in 2012, the percentage of total sales decreased 52
Missoula Independent
Homesteader 2013
Missoula has a higher-thanaverage rental market. This means that rent prices are higher than average and vacancy rates are lower than the national average. Harvard’s The State of the Nation’s Housing 2012 reported the national vacancy rate at 9.5 percent in 2011, compared to Missoula’s average vacancy rate of 3 percent. Although vacancy rates are still below 4 percent average across all categories, some segments took a significant jump in 2012 with the continued development of multi-family units. The
vacancy rate of studio units nearly doubled (Figure 14). Given the decline in student population, this trend is likely to continue next year. Low rental vacancy rates are common in college towns due to the pressure exerted by the student population. College towns such as Bozeman and Fort Collins, CO, also have vacancy rates well below the national average.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY The Housing Affordability Index The Affordability Index (HAI) compares the median price of a home and the median income of households in a community. A value of 100 means that a household with a median income has exactly