Almost 7' of snow

80" in eight days. That is what fell at the JHMR from January 19-January 25.  All of a sudden everyone was smiling (except those trying to fly in or out) and the skiing exploded.  Here is a video from the JHMR that does a good job of explaining what sort of conditions we experienced last week.

Speaking of Flights, this is great news, at long last a direct flight to and from San Francisco (and one from Houston).

This is a nice piece on the Jackson Hole Four Seasons from the Boston Globe.  Plain and simple, it's a really great Hotel.

I'm not sure who at the JHMR gets credit for this ad campaign, but it's really good. Apparently this picture was taken in Colorado.

Canis Lupis, Moose Junction.  Forrest McCarthy took this picture before the recent storms.  As Alfred Hitchcock so astutely noted "there is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."

Unless of course you're caught in a very large avalanche, which this snowboarder was a week ago in Colorado, in which case the terror is very immediate.   It's a pretty good advertisement for BCA's  Float 30 Avalanche Pack .

Real Estate:

There were 12 real estate closings in January 2012.
28 more went under contract during that same period.
Of that 28, 4 were listed for over $1,000,000 and 3 were listed for more than $2,000,000.
11 were listed for under $500,000.
The least expensive was a 2br/1ba 750 sq. ft. condo in the Town of Jackson losted for $109,000
The most expensive was a 4br/4ba 3000sq. ft. house in Teton Village listed for $2,495,000.  Not quite ski in/ski out but pretty close.  Great rental property.

A few notable Closings in January 2012

2br/3ba 1720 sq. ft condo at the Four Seasons Listed for $1,845,000 Closed for $1,615,000 ($938 per sq. ft)
5br/5ba 4000 sq. ft house in Wilson, 3 acres, Bank Owned, Listed for $3,500,000  Closed for $3,400,000.  (It was originally listed for $4,995,000 in 2009).

3br/3ba condo in East jackson, 1900 sq. ft., Bank owned, listed for $380,000  Closed for $373,000.

Pitchers and Catchers report in 3 weeks.  Bring it on!

2011 Real Estate Totals

Well, it didn't take long.  The first sunny day after a 30+" storm cycle, despite several ardent warnings of very high avalanche danger, a couple of guys headed out to Pucker Face, just South of the JHMR and this is what happened.  A very lucky snowboarder..

This is a nice piece from the USA about Teton Thai restaurant in Teton Village

This was an exciting day for those who showed up for story time at the JH Library.

Some pretty good press for Jackson Hole.  Granted, those of us who live here have know this for quite a while.

I found this photo, and after thinking about it for several days, I'm still at a loss.

Real Estate in the past month or so:

From 12/1/2011 - 1/3/2012 there were 39 Closings.  15 of those were for under $500,000 and 8 were for over $3,000,000
For the same period last year there were 20 Closings.  7 of those were under $500,000 and 4 were for over $3,000,000.
So were seeing the same Buying trends, just twice as many Buyers.  

Totals for 2011 vs. 2010 (this includes all fractional ownership sales and this information does not include private sales such as FSBO's etc.. )

In 2010 there were 227 Closings for residential real estate and 29 closings for vacant land.
In 2011 there were 306 Closings for residential real estate and 34 closings for vacant land.
In 2010 67 of the closings (29%) for residential real estate were for under $500,000.
In 2011 127 of the closings (41%) for residential real estate were for under $500,000.
In 2010 28 of the closings (12%) for  residential real estate were for over $3,000,000.
In 2011 28 of the closings (9%) for residential real estate were for over $3,000,000.

So, according to the MLS the total number of sales in 2011was up about 25% over 2010 and a whopping 45% over 2009 (there were 170 sales of residential real estate and 23 sales of vacant land in 2009).  Clearly we are headed in a positive direction.  Are we approaching 2006-2007 numbers?  Absolutely not, and we may never again.  But judging by the number of foreclosures in Teton County within ALL economic classes, that may not be such a bad thing.
Lastly, I think the high percentage of sales for under $500,000  in 2011 is indicative of a lot of Sellers who are either in foreclosure or under a lot of financial stress combined with historically low interest rates for Buyers who can qualify.  There are first time Buyer's in Teton County getting into homes in 2011 that were completely unreachable in 2007.  I think we will see this trend continue and I don't see values rising in that segment of the market in the first 1/2 of 2012.  In fact, they may go down a little more. I think the high end market $3,000,000+ is going to continue to be OK, with total sales and values slowly heading up.

If you've spent any time at a Whole Foods, you'll appreciate this

The Teton Village Real Estate Scene

I'm not sure what to think when I see things like this, other than there are people with far, far too much time on their hands.

The National Parks were created in an effort for people to experience nature in as an unspoiled state as possible.   Yet every year, Grand Teton Nation Park issues a certain amount of Elk tags to reduce the herd (I thought that is what the wolves were doing) Here is another of example of why this policy decision may need to be revisited.

I found this picture that a guy named Don Libby took a this week at Granite Creek.

Jackson Hole Real Estate News.

As we are 21 days from the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's official opening (yes we could use some snow),
I thought I'd take a look at how Teton Village is holding real estate wise.
If you haven't visited Teton Village in while, you need to.  The Teton Village Association, JHMR, Shooting Star, and all the other private land owners deserve a ton of credit for all the work that has gone on and continues to go on.   The skiing, in my opinion, has always been the best in the Lower 48. No question.  Now, the Village surrounding the mountain has caught up and the beauty is that it's done without comprising the unbelievable scenery, sense of open space and most importantly it's sense of authenticity.  There are 5 resorts, a world class golf course, dive bars, wine bars, several fantastic restaurants, ridiculous mountain biking, free summer concerts, plenty of shopping and any number of moose, bears, elk and coyotes that continually remind you that you're smack in the middle of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.  And it's all surrounded by thousands of acres of permanently protected open spaces.   For these reasons, it's pretty easy to see why Teton Village, for the most part, has weathered the recent economic downturn better than most of the rest of the Teton County.
Here are some numbers from the past 12 months.
-There have 39 sales (not including Shooting Star Club or all the fractional sales)
-19 of those sales were over $1,000,000
-6 were over $2,000,000
-10 were for under $500,000
-The least expensive sale was $208,000 for a 2br/1ba bank owned condo, 760 sq. ft, not ski in/ski out
-The most expensive sale was $6,000,000 for a 5br/7ba 6300 sq. ft house in Granite Ridge, right on the slope
-There are 2 sales pending at the Four Seasons, both over $2,500,000
-The average price per sq. ft. at the Four Seasons was $1046 (one sale was $729, the rest were over $1100
-The average price per sq.ft. at The Teton Mountain Lodge was $718
-The average price per  sq.ft . at Crystal Springs was $703
-The average price per sq. ft. at Hotel Terra was $666, though the sample size was small.
What I noticed in putting these number together is there were a handful of sales that were clearly distressed Sellers and the prices reflected that.  Otherwise, while prices are down from their peak in 2007-2008, it's nothing like the close to 40-50% drop we've seen on SOME places in the County.  A good example is the Four Seasons condominiums, which at their peak were selling in the $1300 per ft range and now they are mostly in the $1100 per ft range.  Definitely a drop, but not too bad when compared to other places.
I'm not sure we've hit the bottom yet or not, an we won't until we can look back and say "that was the bottom."  But am confident that in Teton County, it will be  Teton Village will lead the way back up.

I really hope you saw Game 6 of the World Series..

32 Days until Opening Day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Saw this moose out my living room window on Thursday. I"m not entirely sure why there have been so many Moose in the Valley this fall, but this is one of 4 that has been hanging around in our yard for the past month or so and doing some solid pruning of all my trees.

Taken last week, this is yet another example of why you should not try and short cut the switch backs on Teton Pass.  Fortunately, no one was hurt, except maybe a bruised ego of the driver who had borrowed the RV from a friend.  Oops.









Real Estate:
The market continues to move along, and while we're by no means setting any records , the sales are steady.  There were 27 closings since my last post on October 4.  Seven were for over $1,000,000 and three were over $2,000,000.  Among those sales were:
2br/1ba condo in Teton Village, not ski in/ski out, 800 sq. ft., distressed sale, closed for under $250,000.
2br/1.5 ba condo in the Aspens, 1100 sq. ft., no garage, Closed for just under $450,000.
4br/4ba 2300 sq. ft condo in Teton Village, close to the Moose Creek lift, pretty good shape, Closed for just over $760,000 (originally listed for $1,850,000 in June 2007!)
5br/5ba in John Dodge, 6 acres, 4900 sq. ft, Listed for $4,195,000 Closed price not disclosed.

There were also 22 properties that went under contract during that same period, which included:
6br/6ba 4700 sq. ft louse in Indian Trails (close to Town) that was listed for $1,600,000
4br/4ba, 5100 sq. ft house in Solitude (North of Town) on 5 acres that was listed for $2,495,000
5br/4ba 4600 sq. ft house on 44 acres (30 min. south of JH)adjacent to the Hoback River that was listed for $5,250,000
1br/1ba 750 sq. ft condo in the Aspens (4 miles South of the ski area) that was listed for $295,000.
As always, if you have any questions about these sales or any other real estate in Jackson Hole, please give me a call - 307-413-7118

Here's a shot from the JHMR camera at the Bridger Center.  With AM temps in the Valley consistently below below freezing,The North facing slopes pictured here, the Expert Chutes, Tensleep Bowl and Corbet's, will probably keep the show that there now. Winter is coming, book now!