Reported HOA Dues in Western Montana Listings

Study 07 · MT Lux Market Research

Research question: What recurring association-fee amounts are reported in the supplied listing and closing records?

A fee field can affect a buyer's monthly planning, but only after its frequency is made comparable. This study annualizes positive reported fees with recurring frequencies, keeps blanks and zeroes distinct, and does not infer what an association covers.

Recurring fee context by export geography

The active medians are $1,200 annually in Missoula County, $1,000 in Ravalli County and $4,692 in Whitefish. Those figures are not rankings or all-in housing costs. They describe annualizable reported fields within distinct export populations.

Blank fee fields remain unknown: 264 active Missoula County records, 274 Ravalli County records and 58 Whitefish records were blank. Zero is separately recorded, not merged into blank. Two active positive fees used nonannualizable frequencies, so they remain outside the annualized median.

Property type changes the planning question

In the active records, the reported median annualized fee is $350 for the Missoula County Single Family Residence group and $3,805 for its condominium group. Whitefish shows $1,666 and $6,720 respectively. The differences help a buyer know when to request association documents, but they do not prove services, reserves, restrictions, management quality or a causal effect of property type.

How annualization works

Positive finite fees are multiplied by 1 for Annually, 12 for Monthly, 4 for Quarterly and 2 for Semi-Annually. Seasonal, One Time, blank and unrecognized frequencies are excluded from annualization. The monthly equivalent is the resulting annual figure divided by 12, presented only as a budgeting aid.

The reported frequency fields include 354 Annually, 384 Monthly, 111 Quarterly and 15 Semi-Annually values across the supplied records, plus Seasonal and One Time values that are deliberately excluded. This makes the method reproducible without treating every fee as a regular monthly obligation.

How to use the result

Buyers: use the fee as one line in a property-specific budget, then review current dues, association documents, rules, planned assessments and the obligations that apply to the actual home. Pair it with taxes, insurance, financing, maintenance and utilities rather than treating it as total cost.

Sellers: make current association information available and describe it accurately. A median cannot price an individual home. The related home-acreage study shows another property field that needs interpretation alongside location, condition and intended use.

Methodology and limits

1. Analyze six supplied MLS exports. Active records are September 25, 2026; closed records use Close Dates from June 1 through August 31 inclusive.
2. Classify Association Fee as blank, zero, positive or invalid. Annualize positive finite fees only when the frequency is Annually, Monthly, Quarterly or Semi-Annually.
3. Publish fee medians only at valid annualizable n of at least 20. Subtype cells retain exact exported labels and use the same threshold.
4. Missoula County and Ravalli County are county exports; Whitefish is city-labeled. The source does not establish full-market coverage, association services, reserve status, ownership costs or future outcomes.

Source fingerprints and definitions are in the methodology download. Suggested citation: MT Lux Real Estate. Reported HOA Dues in Western Montana Listings. September 26, 2026.

For a current comparison in Missoula, the Bitterroot Valley or Whitefish, contact Ashley Inglis or call (406) 880-5985. Read the buyer guide: HOA Fees in Missoula, the Bitterroot Valley and Whitefish.