On Missoula's Northside, two buildings at 1120 and 1140 Charlo Street have new condos marked "Available Now." The two-bedrooms are listed at $262,600, and applications are taken first-come, first-served. Nearby, in the same development on the old White Pine and Sash mill site beside Scott Street, the first market-rate townhomes went up for sale in January 2026 at $625,000 and $640,000.
The two prices are about $360,000 apart. These homes share a site and a construction schedule. They differ in ownership structure. The condos are sold through Front Step Community Land Trust, which keeps the land out of the purchase price. This pair says more about Missoula's 2026 housing market than the citywide zoning headline does. The new code allows townhomes and condos almost everywhere. The new homes priced below the median are coming from a few named projects, and each one comes with its own terms.
What the code allows, and what it has produced so far
Missoula City Council adopted the Unified Development Code and a new zoning map on February 2, 2026. Under the new map, apartments are allowed in 89% of residential and mixed-use districts. The old zoning limited 64% of the city's residential areas to single-family homes or duplexes. The code also builds in the state requirement of at least two homes per residential parcel, sets no cap on apartment units in urban residential districts, and drops residential parking minimums.
As of July 2, every development and construction permit application in the city had to comply with the new code. Montana Free Press reported on July 10 that the city had processed about 70 building permits under the code. City planning supervisor Cassie Tripard told council that most of the permits issued were for single-family homes in recently platted subdivisions. The city had not yet permitted an apartment building under the code, though it had held several pre-application meetings for those more complicated projects.
"Overall, the code is easier to implement than the previous code and is allowing us to tackle projects faster." — Cassie Tripard, City of Missoula planning supervisor, July 2026
The order makes sense. A subdivision with lots already platted can move straight to building permits. An apartment or condo building on an infill lot has to go through design, financing and review first. Eran Pehan, director of the city's Community Planning, Development and Innovation Department, said it would take more time and evaluation to see whether the code produces more housing types, more infill and more walkable neighborhoods.
The first set of code amendments points the same way. The city's package centers on letting driveways be wide enough for three-car garages in certain residential districts, plus technical clarifications. Amendments that involve policy and recent legislative changes will start early next year. City Council's public hearing on the package is set for October 5, 2026. Council had already approved a 35-foot maximum driveway width in limited-urban and rural residential areas in July. So the first tune-ups to a code written to encourage housing variety deal with garages for detached houses.
The price band where the code has the most work to do
Missoula has no Missoula-specific market figures for summer 2026 to point to, so the latest full picture is the Missoula Organization of Realtors' report on calendar year 2025, released in February 2026. For 2025, the median sale price across the Missoula urban area was $550,000. By property type, single-family homes had a median of $584,000, townhomes $497,950 and condos $343,750. At the end of 2025, homes under $600,000 had roughly three to six months of supply. Homes over $1 million had nearly 18 months.
On April 20, 2026, Mandy Snook, data committee chair for the Missoula Organization of Realtors, told KPAX that the market felt tighter below the roughly $550,000 median, with inventory moving quickly and more competition. She said the openings below the median tend to be condos and townhomes.
That is the shortage the new code was written to fix. It also explains why the projects below have become the story. Here are the named for-sale projects with published prices or price targets, as of early October 2026:
| Project | Location | Home types | Price or target | Status | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ravara, market-rate | Former White Pine and Sash site, Scott Street | Townhomes | $625,000 and $640,000 at January 2026 launch | First homes offered for sale January 2026 | None reported |
| Ravara, Front Step CLT | 1120 and 1140 Charlo St | Studios, one- and two-bedroom condos | $176,000 to $262,600 listed | "Available Now," first-come, first-served | Household income up to 120% of area median; land held by the trust |
| Midtown Commons | Near Southgate Mall | Townhomes, condos, apartments, a few detached homes | Condos about $300,000 to $350,000; townhomes upper $400,000s to low $500,000s; houses $550,000 to $600,000 | In the construction phase as of the city's July 31, 2026 update | Developer and city estimates; no delivery date |
Of the three, only the land trust condos come in clearly below the 2025 condo median. They are also the only ones with an income limit. The market-rate Ravara townhomes launched about $130,000 above the 2025 townhome median. Midtown's townhome targets sit close to that median.
The fine print on the lowest-priced new homes in Missoula
Front Step's model separates the cost of the land from the cost of the home. According to the trust, this lowers the purchase price and keeps the home affordable for future buyers. A buyer at Ravara is buying a home on land the trust holds. Because affordability is meant to carry over to the next buyer, the resale terms will look different from those on a market-rate condo across the street. Front Step's information sheet and staff can explain how resale works. Anyone weighing this should go over the terms with a lender and their own legal advisor before applying.
Eligibility is the second condition. Front Step says income-qualified buyers can earn up to 120% of area median income. That limit is higher than many people assume and covers a lot of working households. Even so, it is a test some buyers will not pass.
The prices also moved over the year. In January, Montana Free Press reported estimated land trust prices of $176,000 to $287,000. Front Step's current unit page lists studios at $176,000 to $200,990, one-bedrooms at $230,280 and two-bedrooms at $262,600, with two-bedrooms marked as limited availability. Neither source explains the difference. Anyone shopping here should work from the current unit sheet, not from older coverage.
Midtown Commons and the city's role in the price
Midtown Commons comes out of a city decision more than a zoning one. Montana Free Press described it in May as a roughly $100 million missing-middle project of 225 to 250 units near Southgate Mall. The tentative mix was about 20 townhomes, 150 condos, 56 apartments and six small houses. On May 18, 2026, City Council approved the purchase and sale agreements and the development agreement. By July 31, the city's project page reported that work had moved into construction. Local reporting described the first work as roads and utilities for the townhome phase.
The planned condo count matters for buyers. A project with roughly 150 condos targeted at about $300,000 to $350,000 would add homes at or below the 2025 condo median of $343,750. Those condos were also the segment Snook pointed to as having openings. The catch is timing. No source gives a delivery date, and every Midtown price is an estimate. City project-team testimony put the detached homes at $550,000 to $600,000, also an estimate. A buyer moving to Missoula this winter can't count on buying a Midtown condo. A buyer planning a year or two out can reasonably keep it on the list.
What this means for a Missoula search under $550,000
For buyers comparing Missoula with other Western Montana markets, the practical effects in 2026 are these:
- New single-family construction is concentrated in recently platted subdivisions, which is where most of the first permits under the code went.
- New condos and townhomes below the median come project by project, and each project has its own price structure, eligibility rules or estimated timeline.
- The city's permit dashboard tracks application counts and review times. A separate dashboard showing what housing types are being built, and where, was still being developed as of July.
- Missoula County has its own zoning regulations, with a set revised in 2026. The city code doesn't decide what can be built outside city limits.
A few questions that come up often
Did the Montana Supreme Court case put the new rules at risk? The court's March 17, 2026 decision upheld the challenged 2023 state housing reforms against the constitutional claims in that case. It also reversed the lower court's ruling against the land-use planning law's public-participation provisions. Under state law, qualifying cities must allow one accessory dwelling unit by right on a single-family lot, and duplexes wherever single-family homes are allowed.
Can I buy a Ravara land trust condo as a second home or rental? Front Step markets these as income-qualified homes, with buyers earning up to 120% of area median income. Questions about occupancy and use belong with Front Step directly before you apply.
When will the first apartment or condo building permitted under the new code appear? As of the city's July update, none had been permitted. Several projects were at the pre-application stage. The research for this post found no confirmed apartment permit since then.
To buy below the median in Missoula, you have to know which project fits which buyer, and each project has its own timeline and conditions. Ashley Inglis can go through Missoula's current new-construction options with you, from Northside condos to the Midtown Commons pipeline, so your search matches what is actually being built. Get in touch with Ashley for a personalized market consultation.
