Habitat for Humanity Accepting Applications for Single-Family Homes in Columbia Falls
Located on the corner of Railroad Street and Fourth Avenue East North, the six homes are slated to break ground this spring as the nonprofit organization works to acquire more land and expand its inventory
By Maggie Dresser
Starting this spring, construction crews will break ground on six new homes in Columbia Falls as part of Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley’s latest project, building upon the nonprofit’s fleet of below market-rate homes.
Applications for the single-family residences on the corner of Railroad Street and Fourth Avenue East North are open until Feb. 3. The development will feature energy-efficient one four-bedroom, three three-bedroom and two two-bedroom houses with shared green space. Prices will range between $300,000 and $380,000.
Income requirements must fall within the ranges of 30% and 80% of Area Median Income, based on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for Flathead County. Chosen applicants will be responsible for providing “sweat-equity” in the construction process, which usually requires more than 275 hours of labor.
The housing development is located on a Northwest Montana Community Land Trust property, which the nonprofit acquired from the City of Columbia Falls in recent years. The land trust will own and lease the property under the homes built by Habitat Flathead’s staff and volunteers.
“The City of Columbia Falls basically donated the land for the houses to be built on, and the land has gone straight into the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust,” Habitat Flathead Executive Director MaryBeth Morand said.
Habitat Flathead has partnered with the community land trust to provide housing for the last three projects, and the latest development adds to a portfolio of homes for residents priced out of the housing market. The land trust is granted the first right of refusal for each property to allow the organization to manage the homes long-term.
In Flathead County, there were 141 closed sales in November compared to 114 sales during the same month in 2024 while nationwide trends show pending home sales have increased, according to Regional MLS data.
A National Association of Realtors’ report revealed the West region outpaces demand compared to elsewhere in the country, with pending home sales jumping 9.2% compared to between 1.3% and 2.4% monthly growth in the Northeast, Midwest and South regions.
The report also illustrates the shrinking volume of first-time homebuyers, which last year dropped to a historic low of 21% compared to 40% in 2008, while the median age rose to 40 compared to buyers in their late 20s during the 1980s.
First-time buyers today cite high rent and student loans as the most significant barriers to saving for a home while gifts and loans from friends or relatives is becoming more common to afford a home, according to the report.
In the last two-and-a-half years during a period where median home prices in Flathead County have hovered around $600,000 and mortgage rates have fluctuated between 6% and 7%, Habitat Flathead has sold eight homes for roughly $320,000 at a 2% rate.
Habitat Flathead recently finished a single-family house on Third Avenue East and now has four townhouses on Sixth Avenue West and Eighth Street West under construction in Columbia Falls. The six-home development on Railroad Street is slated for completion next year.
But after years of building new partnerships and acquiring property, Morand says Habitat Flathead’s streak is slowing down as she searches for new land to build on.
“We need to break ground on some new land and feed the beast of this construction pipeline,” Morand said. “We know we’ve got a gap because we need land to build on.”
After building new homes in Somers, Kalispell and Columbia Falls in recent years, Morand is hoping to expand Habitat’s inventory to Whitefish, where the median housing price hovers around $1 million.