Rents in much of western and central Montana moved up in the third quarter, even as vacant apartments became easier to find in the country as a whole.
Rental Beast’s Q3 report, published Oct. 29 for agents in the Montana Regional MLS, put the average Montana apartment rent at $1,819 a month, up 4.24% from $1,745 a year earlier. About 31% of Montana households rent, more than 141,000 in all, the report said. Nationally, the U.S. Census Bureau’s vacancy rate rose to 7.6% in the third quarter, from 7.3% in the second quarter and 7.1% a year earlier, figures the report cited from the bureau.
The local picture split by city. Missoula’s average rent rose 6.03% year over year to $1,748, nearly double the 3.41% pace in the prior quarter, with two-bedrooms averaging $1,838. A majority of Missoula households, 53%, are renters, the report said. Kalispell flipped from a slight decline last quarter to a 5.64% year-over-year increase, with the average rent at $1,715 and two-bedrooms at $1,869, up from $1,760 in the second quarter.
Helena was the soft spot in that footprint. Average rent there was $1,674, down 1.27% from a year earlier, though that was higher than the $1,644 Rental Beast reported for the second quarter. The firm said nearly two-thirds of Helena rentals sit between $1,501 and $2,000 a month, and that 47% of households there rent.
Rental Beast is a listing tool offered to MRMLS members. Its averages are not the same measure as other firms’ median rents, and they should be read as one company’s slice of the market, not a census of every unit in the state.
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