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Montana market

Great Falls

Cascade County

Great Falls is not a market to flatten into a statewide average. It is the most affordable market on this list and the most veteran. The median is $339,715, essentially flat year over year, homes move in 52 days, and volume is up 23 percent. With Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Air and Army National Guard here, a large share of purchases are VA loans, and a VA loan handled badly is a lost house.

The snapshot

The numbers, with the date on them.

Median sale price
$339,715−0.01% year over yearRedfin, June 2026
Days on market
52Redfin, June 2026
Homes sold
222+23.5% year over yearRedfin, June 2026

2026 baseline conforming limit $832,750, high-cost ceiling $1,249,125 (FHFA, 2026). Above your county limit the loan becomes a jumbo, which is priced and underwritten differently. Ask us your county number.

What financing looks like here

The programs that actually fit Great Falls.

VA

No monthly mortgage insurance, and the strongest benefit in American housing finance. The dominant program in this market and the one most often mishandled elsewhere.

Montana Veterans Home Loan Program

A separate Montana Board of Housing program at 4.50% with a $538,036 limit (Montana Housing, effective 07/24/26). Not the federal VA loan. A veteran may qualify for one, the other, or both.

USDA

The eligible ring around Great Falls is generous and reaches closer in than people think. Worth testing every address just outside the city, and we will run it for you.

FHA and Montana Housing

Lower credit thresholds for credit-building buyers, plus below-market state bond programs with buyer assistance.

What trips people up here

The local problems, named.

PCS timelines

Orders do not wait for underwriting, and a rushed VA file is where mistakes happen. Start the certificate of eligibility before you have a house.

VA minimum property requirements

On older housing stock, peeling paint, roof life, furnace and water heater conditions get flagged.

Sellers who fear VA offers

A pre-approval that has been underwriter-reviewed, plus a direct call to the listing agent, fixes that conversation.

Rentals and BAH

Using rental income from a departing residence has rules, and BAH is treated as income with its own documentation.

Radon and older basements

Common here, cheap to test, and much cheaper to address before the appraisal than after.

Where we lend here

Areas we cover.

  • Downtown and the Historic District
  • West Bench
  • Riverview
  • Black Eagle
  • Malmstrom area
  • Belt and Cascade
  • Sun Prairie and the Sun River corridor

Two pieces to read alongside this page: the Montana Veterans Home Loan Program next to a federal VA loan and USDA eligibility just outside town. Between them they cover a large share of the purchases in Cascade County.

Start

Get the Great Falls number that applies to you.

Published figures describe a market. They do not describe your file. Send us the address and the price and we will tell you which programs will actually close it.

Start my application

Opens our secure application at bisonteam.floify.com. About 12 minutes.

Talk to our Montana team: 406-529-3800

Calls our Montana team. A person answers, not a call center.