Jackson Hole Real Estate Hotsheet Highlights

The Web is crawling with ways to search for real estate listings. In this region, the best way to get started is at Jackson Hole Experts But for when you want to know what Realtors know … you need the Hotsheet!

New listing highlights: New Jackson Hole listings have been few in the past month or so, predictable for this time of year, but Teton Village and in-town condos have been hitting the hotsheet in greater numbers in the past few days.

The second new Four Seasons in Jackson Hole listing of the week (there are now 13 FS properties available) hit Dec. 17. This 3-bath, 5-bed unit on the sixth floor is priced at $5,250,000, making it the second most expensive Four Seasons unit after the 5,016 sq. ft., 5-bed, 6-bath, unit on the ninth floor listed at $6,950,000. I toured the latter last Thursday and was, well, impressed of course. The layout, cathedral ceilings and abundance of glass belied the fact it was a condo, providing more of a single-family home feel, perhaps mainly because this is one of the few units with both west (Mountain Resort) and east (Sleeping Indian and valley) views.

Price change highlights: There were 25 price changes during the Dec. 16-18 3-day period, with the most interesting being a $43,000 Brookside Condominium price reduction from $358K to $315K. According to an e-mail sent to all realtors from this agent, the list price is $78,000 less than the sale of a similar unit in March 2008. He points out that if it sells at that price with 20% down, and financing comes in at 4.625%, the monthly payment is about $1,295 per month. It rents for $1,200 per month.

Also notable were 2 price reductions in the High Teton Condominiums on Hansen Street, with both 2-bed, 1-bath units dropping $16K and $25K respectively with prices now just below $500K. A very nice 1-bed unit in this building dropped to $318K earlier this week.

Closed and pended listings: A 3-bed, 3-bath, 2,210 sq ft home in Indian Trails listed at $805,000 sold this week after 61 days on the market and a price reduction of $90K. That leaves 6 homes on the market in this west Jackson neighborhood, with list prices between $1.1M and $2.195M.

For details about any property mentioned in this blog post or a FREE PERSONALIZED Jackson Hole real estate market analysis, please call Brian Siegfried at 307-690-9346 or e-mail him at Brian.Siegfried@sothebysrealty.com.

An Exciting Winter for Teton Village – Jackson Hole, Wyoming

It isn’t every day that workers at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort get applause for their work. But then, a new Aerial Tram at isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence.

In late October, spectators gathered at the resort and clapped as crews placed the first of two bright-red Tram cars from Switzerland onto their track cables. Seeing the cars put into place was like watching the curtain lift at the theater, although in this case the performance is to start December 20, when the Aerial Tram will begin carrying skiers and snowboarders up Rendezvous Mountain. For the legions of people who are passionate about this particular ski hill, it will be as though Christmas arrived five days early.

Anyone who has skied at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort any time from the 1960s to more recent years will find the sight of the little red boxes moving along their cable to be a familiar sight. The Tram cars are red, like their iconic predecessor, which shuttled skiers up the mountain for 40 years before being retired. But the new tram will be bigger and faster, whisking 100 passengers at a time to their starting point for their adventures in about nine minutes.

Change is afoot at Teton Village as a whole. The Village has kept hold of its classic attractions, like the Mangy Moose Saloon, while adding new ones like Hotel Terra, a boutique property that’s sleek, upscale and eco-friendly. Some changes at the Village are subtle, like the acoustical upgrades at Walk Festival Hall, home to the Grand Teton Music Festival. Other changes are more dramatic, a case in point being the new Shooting Star™ golf course.

Teton Village has become famous for its resort offerings. But it has become viewed more and more in recent years a great place to live, whether year round or on a part-time basis. The new hotels, for example, offer condo ownership opportunities in addition to options for out-of-towners to stay in style and comfort when they come to Jackson Hole. With the opening of the Four Seasons Resort, Teton Village acquired a “grande dame” hotel as well as a new group of slopeside luxury residences. In addition to Hotel Terra, there’s also Teton Mountain Lodge and others are coming, including the second phase of Hotel Terra.

Another new arrival in Teton Village is the newly completed Timbers, a group of three- and four-bedroom homes in Granite Ridge. Designed by John Carney, they average 3,300 square feet, with vaulted ceilings, gourmet kitchens, stone fireplaces and private Jacuzzi decks. Elsewhere in the village, the condos along McCollister Drive and Rachel Way, though not exactly new, are newly interesting to the real estate market. With upgrades and improvements the units, which like the Timbers, are zoned for short-term rentals, creating an attractive opportunity for investors who would like to generate some revenue from their properties.

As for Shooting Star™, it’s easy at this time of year for Nordic skiers to look out at the snow covered rolling terrain of the Tom Fazio-designed golf course and fantasize about streaking along a freshly groomed track. The golf course will, in fact, be a Nordic ski center, but its big unveiling will be next summer, when the golfers who have been watching the new facility take shape can finally walk out onto those greens and play a few rounds.

Construction is well underway on the Shooting Star™ club house, which will feature spa and fitness facilities, as well as a restaurant. The residential portion of Shooting Star™ includes cabins by architect Paul Bertelli of JLF Associates, featuring reclaimed materials and old world craftsmanship, plus spectacular views of the Tetons and the golf course.

Not everything planned for Teton Village is on such a grand scale, but little things make a difference. The pond behind Crystal Springs Lodge will eventually be replaced by a group of smaller water features and landscaping better suited for functions or for just relaxing. An 812-space, paved parking lot was just approved by the Teton County Board of Commissioners to be built between Granite Loop Road and Highway 390. It’s possible that someday there will be an automated “lift” that will whisk skiers and snowboarders from the lot to the clock tower so they can begin their day on the slopes. There’s no doubt that the opening of the new Arial Tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is the biggest story for winter 2008-09 at Teton Village. But as is always the case with news, some of the other stories are pretty interesting, too. For first timers and veterans, Teton Village is worth exploring this winter.

For more information on Teton Village or Jackson Hole please feel free to email or call the Jackson Hole Experts – Christy and Garth Gillespie.

The Latest and Greatest Jackson Hole Market Update – 12/15/2008

After reading these highlights you are going to believe that Santa has is bag full of coal for Christmas. Unfortunately the market statistics for the first 11 months Jan-Nov 2008 are looking quite bleak. Please do not shoot the messenger.

• The sales volume is 39% below that of 2007 at about $460,000,000.
• We can trace the beginning of the slow down to August of 2007 when units listed outpaced units sold
• Sales volume in all market areas is down with the biggest decreases seen in Teton Village (-55%) and South of Jackson (-64%).
• Units sold as stated above is down (-287) almost 52%.
• Teton Village reported only 1 home and 28 condos sold verse 7 homes and 52 condos and 5 vacant land parcels during the first 11 months of 2007!
• With the limited number of transactions along with a somewhat strong over $3 million market the average sales price has increased by 27%.
• Days on Market has started to increase with an average of 157 days on market verse 142 in 2007. The biggest increase in Days on Market is being seen in the Condo market.
• Vacant land transactions are taking the biggest hit down 47% on volume and down 67% on the amount of transactions 37 vs. 113 in 2007.
• Only 9 transactions took place in November! The fewest since before January of 2002.
• Active inventory is 72% higher than last year at this time
• Inventory priced under $3 million is up 85% vs. last year
• Inventory priced over $3 million is up 32% verse 2007

Sources for a the data come from the Teton Board of Realtors and Sotheby’s International Realty with a little bit of input by Garth Gillespie, Sales Associate, SIR.

It is our belief that we will start to see an adjustment in the average sales price in the near future. Our transaction data is becoming smaller as the market slows so a few transactions can really skew the data. We are starting to see some major price adjustments in the under $1 million and under $2 million markets. For more information on the current real estate environment in Jackson Hole please do not hesitate to call us at 307-739-8056 or email us at garth.gillespie@sothebysrealty.com.

December 2008 Market Update

Where does the Jackson Hole Real Estate Market stand during these turbulent economic times? As you can imagine, Jackson Hole is not immune to any crisis and from where Christy and I sit the Jackson Hole Real Estate Market is feeling the pain. Activity, not in the sense of actual statistical activity, but activity in the sense of phones ringing, buyer’s inquiring, copy machines printing and fax machines dialing is probably at an all time low in the real estate careers of Garth and Christy. Being at work 9-5 every weekday we can get a feeling of where the real estate market is going and yes November and December are usually the slowest months in Jackson Hole real estate but so far November was extremely slow and December has started slow out of the gate. The Gillespie Real Estate Team continues to work extremely hard during these slower times. We are busy communicating with customers, business planning and strategizing, creating advertising programs and completing other real estate activities but on a whole we have seen a noticeable lull in showing activity.

As for the statistics…they tell the same story. When comparing 2007 numbers to the current 2008 numbers we are experiencing a much slower market. In October we saw 25 closings in Teton County, Wyoming (according to the Teton County Multiple Listing Service) where in 2007 we saw 47 closings. Surprisingly, listing price volume was almost identical. This is due to less lower priced properties selling and a few very large transactions taking place. Days on market increased by almost 3 months. In November the news gets worse – 10 closings in 2008 verses 43 closings in 2007. Days on market for the closed transactions was not as dramatic as October but shows an increase of 40 days. Currently there are 21 pending transaction in the entire valley – 6 of which are in the Pine Glades development which is under construction.

Highlights in the market include some very strong upper tier sales. In October there were closings of listed properties of $19.5 million, $6.3 million, $5.8 million and $5.3 million. In November the upper tier market continues this trend with 2 closings where the listed properties were priced at $19.9 million and 8.5 million!

Active listing inventory numbers are staggering! We have seen an almost 75% increase in actively listed properties on the market over 2007 numbers. Getting a completely accurate number is difficult with the changing market but there are about 700 active listings on the market in Teton County, Wyoming.

So what does all this mean? Lowering prices, excellent choices, extremely good buying opportunities but also less liquidity, more competition and increased market time. If buyer’s purchased their property before 2006 they have seen a robust growth and appreciation but if someone just recently purchased property they are probably going to see a depreciating asset for the next few quarters. Jackson Hole is still the wonderful place it was before these difficult economic times offering unbelievable beauty, National Parks, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and a very favorable tax climate. The real estate market and for that fact the community will survive and the market will rebound. We rarely have seen buyer’s markets in Jackson Hole so it is also a time of opportunity. To get more in depth analysis or if you have any questions please fee free to call Garth Gillespie at 307-739-8056 or Christy Gillespie at 307-739-8146.

Teton Village Update

 

Teton Village Update – April 22, 2008

  Actually the Tram Tower is no longer there….but a new one is being built!

 

The update at Teton Village: What has happened since the March report? The ski season at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will go down as one of the very best. Highlighted by over 600 inches and a base of over 100 inches skiers were delighted by quality skiing all season. Next year will be the debut of the new Aerial Tram so we will be excited about the 2008-2009 season too. With that said – we have had it with winter! Bring on Spring!

Real Estate News – There have been 3 closings since March 1st. A Four Seasons Resort Penthouse for $4,500,000, a new "Timber’s" Free Standing Townhome for close to $3,400,000 and an older condo that sold for close to $1,600,000. The last month of skiing proved to be fairly active on the sales side as there are 9 Pending transactions with an average list price of $2,260,000. This includes 2 Granite Ridge Lodges and 1 Four Seasons Penthouse.

The 9 Pending Transactions sound great but the real news is in the available active inventory — 54 Active Listings. The median active listing price is $1,995,000 so there is a lot of inventory priced in the "millions" category. Average Days of Market is climbing and is at an average of 157 days (that’s an entire ski season!).

Overall the Teton Village Market is a strong Buyer’s market. There are a lot of condos and townhomes to choose from and there are probably many Seller’s willing to negotiate. The biggest issue with the available inventory is that the prices were set when the market was much more active. Now we do not have Buyers and the pricing is at pre decline pricing.

If you would like information on:
Teton County, Idaho – please visit: www.tetonvalleyexperts.com

Jackson Hole, Wyoming – please visit: www.jacksonholeexperts.com

Market Update April 22, 2008

Market Update – Jackson, Wyoming
April 22, 2008

Temperature at the Jackson Hole Airport = 39 degrees! Brrrrrrrr…..
Yes as you read the headline it was 39 degrees on April 22, 2008. This would not be such news but those of us in Jackson Hole have had just about enough winter. We finally had some warmer weather during the weekend to melt some valley snow but overall this has been the spring that just has not started yet. Last year – a warm dry year – was on the other end of the spectrum as most of us were concerned about drought and wildfires. This year we are starting to be worried about when the tulips are going to bloom.

March came and went and there is not a lot to talk about. For the third straight month the number of transactions has not crested 25! In March, there were a total of 22 transactions with a closed sales volume of $38.5 million. To illustrate the slow transaction data we only have to look at the number of transactions during the previous 3 years: 2007 – 60, 2006 – 53 and 2005 – 68.

Of the 22 transactions in March of 2008 – 18 were single family homes and 3 were vacant lots. Highlights are 1. A home in Tucker Ranch sold for $8,000,000 2. There were 2 sales in Teton Village over $3 million and 3. There were 9 sales in the Town of Jackson (mostly condos and townhomes).

There are currently a total of 55 Pending transactions with a total Listing Volume of $133 million. The average list price being $2,425,944. There are 3 transactions that are priced over $10 million!

In real estate news – The Teton County Planning Commission voted 3-1 to advise the Teton County Commissioners to enact a freeze on subdivisions and zone changes for parcels of 20 acres or more.

If you would like information on:

Teton County, Idaho – please visit: www.tetonvalleyexperts.com
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – please visit: www.jacksonholeexperts.com

 

Recent Real Estate Developments in the Jackson Hole

Over the past month there have been several real estate developments moving through the approval process in the Town of Jackson and Teton County, Wyoming.  I will use this post to update many of them.  If you have any questions about these developments or others that you have heard of please do not hesitate to give me a call at 307-413-5243 or email me.

1.  28 unit development in East Jackson:  Yet to be officially named, this development takes place in East Jackson on 3.35 acres between Rancher Street and Nelson Street.  The planned unit development is proposed to be 145,700 square feet in size which includes 8 single family residences, eight duplexes, and four townhomes.  The development requires affordable housing for 9.79 people and the developer generously is providing affordable housing for 10.  This particular property is in a very attractive location and the developer has a great track record.  It should be a very attractive property with landscaping, sidewalks and a good neighborhood feel.

2.  The Snake River Brewery and Restaurant is expanding!  The "Brew Pub" will be expanding by 2,300 square feet and will include a second floor outdoor deck, new bathrooms (desperately needed!) and an upgraded kitchen.  Congrats and good luck!

3.  A Developer is planning on developing the property that is currently the Painted Buffalo.  The development will be 151,000 square feet in size and will be of a mixed use.  Most of the space will be a new 155-room luxury hotel, spa and fitness center, conference space, restaurant, bar and limited retail space.  The proposed plan calls for a 4 story building.

4.  A beautiful new property is going to be built on the corner of Pearl and Jackson.  The new building will be 31,000 sq feet is size and will be of mixed use.  Retail/Commercial space will be on the first floor with a mix of affordable, employee and free market "lofts" will be on the 2nd and 3rd floor.  The units on the 3rd floor are incredible and should be in big demand when they are released.  The parking will be underground.

5.  A major development was proposed in the county by 3 ranching families – Lucas, Von Gontard, and Robertson families.  The application consists of 692 acres with up to 315 homes.  The acreage is located in 3 different areas – South Park (across the street from 3 Creek Ranch), Hog Island (next to the WYDOT building) and Game Creek.  The property in Game Creek would transfer development rights to the other 2 properties.  Preliminary plans show the South Park property would contain a total of 181 homes – 107 market homes and 74 deed restricted units.  The Robertson property would consist of 128 total units with 33 free market, 11 affordable, 48 PUD affordable and 36 PUD affordable market homes.  This looks and sounds much better than the awful Teton Meadows plan.

6.  There is a lot of new development taking place at Teton Village.  Most recently the Little Nell hotel went before the planning commission for its first hearing.  Little Nell, a project of Terra Development Group, would be a 50 unit condominium-hotel.  The 121,000 square foot hotel includes a conference room, a spa, 3,500 square feet of retail and a 5,000 sq ft restaurant.  The property is 1.3 acres in size.

I hope you found this information informative and easy to read.  Please visit www.JacksonHoleExperts.com if you would like additional information.

 

Sotheby’s International Realty — 61.8% Market Share!

 

2007 was a record year for the Jackson Hole real estate market, and even better one for Sotheby’s International Realty Jackson Hole Brokerage, which increased its local market share to 61.8% based on its sales volume contrasted against Teton County total sales as reported by the Teton County Assessor’s office.

Looking at the market as a whole, the total dollar volume of sales reported through the Teton Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in 2007 rose 9.1% over 2006.  Even in the fourth quarter, a rocky period for the national real estate market, sale volume was up 5.6% over the same period in 2006.  Sotheby’s sales associates outpaced their competitors for the year, boosting the MLS sales volume in 2007 by 12.2%.  Based on the Teton County Assessor’s numbers, which include both MLS and non-MLS transactions, Sotheby’s associates handled 61.8% of the $1.055 billion real estate sales volume in the Jackson Hole region.  The company’s average market share for the past five years is now 58.2%.

As the result of agent’s efforts and enhanced support they receive, listings with Sotheby’s International Realty in 2007 resulted in an in-house sale nearly 60% of the time.  This was more than 50% better than the company’s nearest competitor – Real Estate of Jackson Hole.  Sotheby’s agents do 88% more transaction sides per agent and 83% more dollar volume than their closest competitor.

This story was written by Sotheby’s International Realty Jackson Hole Brokerage with contributions and editting by Garth Gillespie, sales associate. 

For more information on these statistics or if you have any questions about the Jackson Hole Market please feel free to visit JacksonHoleExperts or to call me at 307-413-5243.

 

March 4th Market Update

Spring is in the air and here in Jackson we are starting to feel a slight change in the weather. During the last week of January Jackson broke out of the 30’s for the first time since November. It is amazing how nice it can feel after the long winter. That is not to say that skin season is over yet. Jackson Hole is blessed with some of the best skiing in the west. The base snow depth is above 100 inches and total snowfall at Rendezvous Bowl is already over 400 inches. We are anticipating a very busy spring ski season with flights mostly booked.

Speaking of flights….Frontier Airlines announced last week that it would begin flying three planes a day into Jackson Hole starting in mid-May.  The airline is planning on using a 70 seat Q-400 turboprop with flights to Denver. This is great news as it should increase competition with United and will lower prices on flights to many destinations. 
 
Real Estate News – A mixed bag of information. From the prospective of looking at data the numbers are really starting to show a slow down. From the prospective of the “pulse” of the market, Christy and I are feeling like there is still some strength in the real estate market. If a property is unique and desired there are still buyers out there ready to pounce. During the past month we have seen condos in the $400,000 to $700,000 almost disappear. There are also 20 pending transactions over $1,000,000 with 10 over $2,000,000. 
 
On the other end of the spectrum February only saw 17 sales which is the lowest recorded number of sales in the past 3 years. Of the 17 sales 8 were condos, 5 were land sales and 4 were residential sales. As mentioned before there are 41 current pending transactions. Active inventory continued to grow to 441 active listings compared to 404 in January. The number of closed transactions per month fell for the 7th time in the past 8 months. This is the longest and steepest decline in closed activity in the past 4 years.

2007 Jackson Hole Statistics Fine Tuned – March 2008

 

2nd Blog in a series of updates on 2007 statistics:

Sotheby’s International Realty of Jackson Hole has been busy compiling statistics from the past year (2007) and in next series of blog updates I will be taking some of that information and sharing it with you.  Leonard Klieman of the Jackson Hole Sotheby’s office has done an incredible job of analyzing Teton County Multiple Listing Service information along with comparing and contrasting data received from Teton County, Wyoming County Assessors Office.

Source:  Teton County Multiple Listing Service — Sales Volume for 2007 equaled $792 million.  A new record!  There were 83 less sales, but $65.9 million more in gross sales volume verse 2006.  Since 2005 unit sales have been declining yet volume has been increasing.  What does this mean??? Increase sales prices!

There was a noticeable decline in activity in the 4th quarter of 2007.  In 2007 unit volume peaked in July which is completely different from years past when September was the busiest month for sales.  There were only 26 sales reported in December and only 21 in January of 2008.  That is the first time in 3 years that there were 2 consecutive months of fewer than 30 sales.  Six months ended Jan. 08 units sales declined 29% from six months Jan. 07.

Look for more statistics in early March!

For more information or if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact the Gillespie Real Estate Team.