No large Montana county permitted new housing construction at a rate approaching Gallatin County during either of the past two five-year periods, even as Gallatin has routinely had the highest median home price of any county in the state, according to a Montana Free Press analysis of the U.S. Censu s Bureau’s Building Permits Survey and population data.  Gallatin County averaged about 15 permitted housing units per 1,000 residents annually from 2016 to 2020. Its rate increased slightly to 15.7 during the following five-year period. That was the highest rate in the state during both periods, and substantially higher than those of Montana’s other population centers. Missoula County ranked next among the state’s six largest counties in 2021-2025, with 8.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents.  The sustained permitting reflects the scale of growth in and around Bozeman, but it does not necessarily mean the region is producing enough housing. The maps show where developers sought permission to build housing relative to the population, not whether those homes were completed, affordable, adequately served by infrastructure or sufficient to meet local demand. Gallatin County planning official Ashlie Burke said housing costs are shaped by what affordable-housing advocates sometimes call the “three Ls”: land, lumber and lending. Laws can represent a fourth factor. The county has worked on model zoning rules intended to make accessory dwelling units, multi-unit housing and other less costly forms of development easier to build. But zoning is only one constraint. Bozeman and other municipalities control much of the region’s water and sewer infrastructure, while development in unincorporated areas often depends on septic systems, exempt wells or existing water rights. Constraints on water and sewer access often lead to development farther from jobs, child care and other services. “We don’t want to just develop everywhere,” Burke said. “We want to be thoughtful.” The permitting data are forward-looking and measure authorization, not completed housing. Billings planning official Jessica Faust said builders generally have six months to begin work after a permit is issued, and noted that the time between permits being issued and housing being on the market is often a year or more. Faust said it’s not common that a housing project is abandoned after permits are issued, but it does sometimes happen. Billings’ certificate-of-occupancy records shared with MTFP also show how large apartment projects can make the annual count of permitted housing units swing. The city recorded 1,122 dwelling units in 2023, with 694 of those in multifamily housing developments. In 2025, the city recorded 566 total units, with just 58 in multifamily developments. A five-year average smooths some of those project-driven spikes. Officials and property developers who spoke to MTFP all emphasized that the question of housing affordability in Montana, which has been ranked as the most unaffordable housing market in the country by the National Association of Realtors, cannot be reduced to permitting alone. They pointed to land costs, financing, infrastructure, labor, zoning and long-term community planning as parts of the same problem. Tom Llewellyn, a realtor and property developer who has worked in Yellowstone County for more than five decades, said the consequences of the affordable housing shortage are most apparent among people who increasingly see homeownership as unattainable. “Many young people feel like they will never afford to buy their own home,” Llewellyn said. “That’s a failure of our collective imagination.” The post What housing permits do — and don’t — say about development  appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less