New listings: Two townhomes in the Hawk’s View subdivision came on the market this week, one at $495K (north end unit) and the other at $498K (interior unit). These units are approximately 1,100 sq. ft. with 2 beds and 2 baths right on Flat Creek with great views of the Elk Refuge, Sleeping Indian and town.

This is the first opportunity to buy in this 11-unit, 7-year-old development behind Dairy Queen on North Cache since March 2007, when an interior unit went for $495K. Previous sales in this development included one in June 2006 at $410K and April 2006 at $395K.

Two adjacent single-family homes on Rancher Street, an east Jackson cross street that has seen a good bit of activity in the last two years, also hit the market at the same time. Unlike the listings above, both properties are owned by the same family and listed with the same agent.

• The least expensive is listed at $850K and built in 1991 with 1,288 sq. ft., 3 beds and 2 baths.
• The larger home is listed at $1.1M and built in 1995 with 2,800 sq. ft., 4 beds and 3 baths.
• The other two active listings on Rancher are a 2,930 sq. ft. home with 4 beds and 3 baths for $1.22M now on the market for 228 days; and a .17-acre building site listed for $675K on the market for 100 days.
• There were 4 closed sales on Rancher Street in 2008 with sale prices between $740K and $1.1M, the latter being the most recent sale in October of a 3,022 sq. ft. home with 3 beds, 3 baths on .25 acres, the largest lot included in this search.

Closed and Pended listings: A home on Fallen Leaf Lane in Melody Ranch listed at $699,500, the least expensive home in the subdivision on the market by nearly $100K, went under contract in the last week after 196 days on the market and price reductions totaling nearly $200K. This becomes just the second home in Melody Ranch currently under contract, contrasted with 13 active listings.

One of the “Bristlecone” homes on Hansen Avenue also went under contract at a list price of $1.675M after 154 days on the market. This sales price stands out among other “solds” in the town of Jackson in the last 2 years as high for a home on a standard .17-acre lot. But with a relatively new main home that includes 3,200 sq. ft., 5 beds and 4 baths, large living areas, a 500 sq. ft. mother-in-law suite and a huge unfinished area in the basement, this is a lot of home in a good location. On the other hand, there are 15 current town of Jackson listings with at least 5 bedrooms, so there were choices.

Beyond the headlines: This week’s Jackson Hole News&Guide front-page article detailing 2008’s lackluster real estate sales echoed internal research provided a week before by the Sotheby’s International Realty Jackson office. In a nutshell, 2008 saw approximately half as many transactions (305) in Teton County, WY, as in 2007.

Some key additional information courtesy of Sotheby’s in Jackson (all information taken from Teton County MLS):
• While 2008 saw significantly fewer transactions, dollar volume did not drop as precipitously, falling 39 percent to finish at approximately $480M for the year. The last time this figure fell below $500M was in 2003; the peak of the market was $792M in 2007, the third consecutive year above $700M (2004 was close with $679M in sales).
• Last year’s fourth quarter was by far the slowest in the last 10 years, with just 45 transactions. In 2007, the second slowest year, there were 120 transactions in the fourth quarter. In 2003, the other low point in the last 10 years, there were more than 175 transactions in the fourth quarter.
• In 2008, Sotheby’s extended its market share to 52.7 percent of the dollar volume, compared to 41.7 percent in 2007. Comparing fourth quarters, Sotheby’s increased market share from 49.2 percent to 56 percent; Sotheby’s picked up market share in each of the year’s quarters versus 2007.
• There are now approximately 675 active listings in Teton County, WY, about 275 more than this time last year. Based on the current rate of sales, this translates to approximately 50 months of inventory, a number that in recent years has hovered closer to 12 months. Of course, take this number with a few grains of salt as it is easily skewed and is at best a snapshot of the overall market with little substantive value when considering particular properties.

As the Brian Siegfried blog evolves, I plan to relay information relating to a wide range of price points and neighborhoods within Teton County, WY. Feel free to suggest a particular area for analysis and discussion within this blog, or contact me directly at 307-739-8055 for a personal answer to your real estate questions. You also can check out the JacksonHoleExperts Real Estate website.

Disclaimer: Although the foregoing data has been compiled from sources deemed to be reliable, the author does not guarantee its authenticity. It is intended for informational purposes only, is subject to prior sale, omission, error, revision and cancellation without notice, and should be independently verified with the source of such information. It is also important to note that not all property sales are reported to the Teton County Multiple Listing Service.