Current Real Estate Market Update – National

We have been updating this graph for a few months and it has not changed much since the last one.  It does tell a go story as the market continues to build some strength.  12,575 houses, condos, townhomes sell EVERY day!  The chart also explains that almost 75% of all purchases are taking place with a bank involved.  Banks are lending!

Here in Jackson we seem to be seeing quite a bit more “showing” activity.  Under contracts have increased yet overall closing activity continues to lag (see next post).

To get a current update on the Jackson Hole Real Estate market please contact the Jackson Hole Experts, Garth and Christy Gillespie at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com or call us at 307-413-5243.

Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty – Top Producers

Christy and Garth Gillespie were recognized as Top Producers at Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty in 2011.  Production for 2011 worked out to be about 5% of the overall real estate market in Jackson Hole.  Sales volume was close to $20 million in sales and Christy and Garth were part of 20 different transactions through out the calender year.

We thank all of our friends, family and referral sources for all of our success.  We continue to work exteremely hard on creative marketing ideas, pricing strategies and negotiation skills.  To learn more about our services please contact Christy and Garth Gillespie, associates, for Jackson Hole Sothebys at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com or call us at 307-413-5243.

 

February Real Estate Results for Jackson Hole, Wyoming

 

 A little bit of a mixed bag for real estate results in February 2012 for Jackson, Wyoming.   The bad news is that our sold transaction total fell from 18 transactions in January to 17 closed transactions in Feb.  The average price also fell to $857,976 and the median sale price of $476,000.  The highest sale for the month was a home on the West Bank in Lake Creek Acres .  It sold for $2,300,000. 

On a positive outlook we had 3 land sales in Feb. and we just had 3 additional lots go under contract in the past few weeks.  Land prices have fallen, construction costs are lower and finding professional works is much easier at this point.  My other theory is that the consumer is going to demand a newer homes in a few years and there simply will not be any due to the lack of construction and spec building during the past 4-5 years.  The opportunity is there for owners to start construction on a new home with the idea of living in it or selling it after or during construction.

Finally – the pending outlook is strong.  There are 54 pending transactions at the moment.  44 of those are priced below $1 million.

For additional information on the Jackson Hole Real Estate market please contact the Jackson Hole Experts – Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty – Christy and Garth Gillespie. – 307-413-5243 or garth.gillespie@jhsir.com

There Are Thousands of Houses Selling Everyday!

“How’s the Real Estate Market?”  It’s a question that Christy and I get everyday.  For the past few years it has been a difficult answer in a difficult real estate market.  Things are changing and they have been for probably the last 6 months – sales are increasing.  Based on the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (Jan 2012) there are over 12,500 houses selling everyday.  The other question Christy and i get is whether banks are lending?  Well we include this data in the slide too.  Almost 9,000 of the 12,500 homes being purchased are being done with a loan!

The Jackson market is definitely on a smaller scale but we have been averaging about 1 home sale a day.  Activity in January and the start of February has been strnger than the last few years especially in the lower quarter of the market.

The Jackson Hole Real Estate Experts hope that this has been good information for your research.  If you want to know more about the types of properties that are selling here in Jackson Hole or if you have any questions about the general Jackson real rstate market feel free to contact us at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com or call us at 307-413-5243.

Jackson Hole Experts Under Construction

Christy and Garth Gillespie, associates for Jackson Hole Sotheby’s, are currently updating their websites – www.JHExperts.com and www.jacksonholeexperts.com.  We are updating our Blog frequently and will have our new site up and running in no time.  In the meantime, thanks for visiting our blog and feel free to email us at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com or call us at (307) 413-5243 if you need more information on the Jackson Hole Real Estate Market.

Quick Glance at Jackson Hole Real Estate Sales in January 2012

Eagle Ranch - Beautiful Views

Published closed sales transactions fell in January 2012 in Jackson Hole.  Only 18 home and land sales took place in the month with a sales volume estimate of about $25 million.  Last year, January 2011 we saw 22 sales and probably the same volume.  We used an estimate because there were 4 non-disclosed sales published in the month.  What’s interesting in this data is that of the 18 sales 6 of them were vacant land.  The median sales price was $850,000.  The average days on market for the 18 sales was 414 days! 

The sales varied through out the valley with transactions taking place in the Town of Jackson, South of town in Dairy Ranches, Polo Ranches and 3 Creeks, a couple on the Westbank.  The highest sale was undisclosed and was a 35 acre lot in Crecent H Ranch which was listed at $5,950,000.

For additional information on the Jackson Hole Real Estate market please feel free to contact the Jackson Hole Experts — Christy and Garth Gillespie – at 307-413-5243 or email us at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com.

Average Home Prices Continue to Drop In Jackson Hole in 2011

Today we will continue to update the 2011 Jackson Hole Real Estate Market with Average Sales Prices.  The Chart below does a comparision on Average Sales Price vs. the Prior Year Average Sales Price.  As you can see, the average prices for property sales in Jackson Hole, Wyoming have been lower in 2011 in 10 (to be clear the “Red bars” are for 2011 and “Blue bars” are for 2010) of the last 11 months.  The exception was December 2011 when we saw a few very large transactions take place.  We have seen a lot of sales (to be outlined in a future blog post) in the “below $850,000 range” which have had an influence on Average Sales Price.

Average Prices Graph

2011 Jackson Hole Real Estate Results Provided by Christy and Garth Gillespie and Jackson Hole Sotheby’s

Here is some excellent information about the Jackson Hole Real Estate Market.  Please notice the trend – our market is improving.  The month of December 2011 was the second strongest dollar volume month we have seen in a year.  As the chart points out December unit volumes rose 60% and sales volume rose 72% when compared to last years numbers.  The overall trend on unit sales and sales volume is on an upward slope.  Unit volumes have improved 8 of the last 9 quarters!  Thats impressive.

To get more information about the Jackson Hole Real Estate market check back here frequently or email us at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com.  Christy and Garth Gillespie are some of Jackson’s strongest real estate agents call us to find out why and how we do it – (307)-413-5243.

 

Buying in Jackson Hole– Make Sure You Ask About Assumable Mortgages

 

Wow – Christy and I just learned some powerful information this week that we would like to share.   It was brought to our attention that buyers that are in the lower end of the market should be talking with their mortgage bankers about FHA loans and or assumable mortgages.  This is forward thinking but right now we are experiencing record low interest rates.  Buyers of properties right now are able to secure financing for under 3% in some situations.

Why are we bringing this up?  When a FHA homebuyer is buying a home today they will have the opportunity to lock in these extremely low interest rates.  Then when the buyer becomes a seller some day they will have an assumable mortgage.  This means a qualified purchaser can “take over” the loan. 

As an example, a $300,000 loan at 4% today carries with it a $1,432.25 principal and interest payment on a 30 year fixed mortgage. If offered for sale in five years, the purchaser could assume the $271,858.56 balance with the same $1,432.25 payment and remaining term of 25 years. The total payments over the 25 years would be $429,675.

Compare that to a new $272,000 loan at 6.5% for 25 years, which would carry a monthly payment of $1,836.56 (over $400 more a month than the assumption and more than $120,000 more over the 25 year term).

At 6.5% for 25 years, to wind up with the same payment as the assumed mortgage, our borrowers would only be getting $212,000…$60,000 LESS!

The point here is that, when rates go up, homes with assumable mortgages will have more value and will sell at higher prices because they are more affordable.

We hope you find this information helpful.  For additional buying tip in the Jackson Hole Real Estate market please contact the Jackson Hole Experts – Christy and Garth Gillespie at 307-413-5243 or email at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com.  You can also visit Jackson Hole Sotheby’s website at www.jhsir.com.

Where are Jackson Hole home prices going in 2012?

We are going to start a series of blog posts that hopefully create a pattern that we can look back on and see if we were right.  Christy and I believe that there could not be a better time to buy real estate in Jackson Hole.  There are excellent values in all price ranges and we believe the amount of inventory allows buyers some good choices.  With that said we do believe a lot of the great properties that have been offered at reduced prices are starting to get purchased and that inventory is going down.  I saw this video yesterday which is from Barbara Corcoran – a real estate “expert” – that outlines some of the reasoning behind buying now and or selling right now.  Take a look.

Stay tuned as we will be posting quite a bit of information that we feel will be important moving forward into the 2012 real estate sales year here in Jackson Hole.  For additional information on real estate or anything else Jackson Hole please feel free to call us at 307-413-5243 or email us at garth.gillespie@jhsir.com.