In the past week we have seen an increase in activity in the Jackson Hole real estate market. The market is not on fire by any means but again we are starting to see some activity that indicates the market has some life. The most interesting aspect of the current activity has been the variety of properties going under contract.

There are currently 16 “Under Contract” residential properties which does NOT include pre construction projects (Terra, Pine Glades, 199 Pearl) or vacant land. There are 8 propeties under $1,000,000 and 8 properties over $1,000,000. There are only 3 condos verse 13 single family homes. In the past week, the most exciting activity we witnessed was a property north of town listed for $5,150,000 go under contract (both sides of the transaction are being represented by Sotheby’s International Realty - Jackson Hole). There are currently 4 properties under contract listed for more than $4.8 million. There are 5 under contract vacant land parcels.

As for Active Listings….there are 571 Residental Properties for sale in Jackson Hole and 214 Vacant Land Parcels for sale in Jackson Hole! There have been 54 closed transactions reported in the Teton Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service since January 1st, 2009.

If you have time - check out our Top Real Estate Picks in Jackson Hole.

We hope this helps you understand the current market activity in Jackson Hole. If you would like us to expand our thoughts or if you have any additional questions please email or call the JacksonHoleExperts - 877-739-8056.

Happy Fourth of July!

In changing times it’s important to have people we can call on for advice we can trust! At The Jackson Hole Experts, one of those people is T.R. Pierce. T.R. is a mortgage broker with The Bank of Jackson Hole. He has worked with many of our clients here in Jackson and regularly provides our team of REALTORS with the latest in mortgage news. We received information below from T.R. today and with his permission we are sharing it with you. It looks like mortgage rates are on the rise. If you’re a Jackson Hole first-time home buyer this could impact your purchasing power. If you are a homeowner with a mortgage coming up for renewal, you’ll want to consider your options carefully. If you have a question about your current or future Jackson Hole mortgage needs, T.R. is a great guy to call on! You can call him at 307.734.8111.

Conforming ARM rates are lower this morning after the NAR announced that pending home sales continued their upward swing in May. Home sales rose (0.1%) for the fourth straight month… the first time this has happened since October 2004! The manufacturing sector’s activity rose to 44.8 in June as well. This was the six straight month this index has increased and the index reading indicates that manufacturing contraction has slowed, but not reversed itself. Manufacturing is a key indictor in gauging the strength of the economy.

BANK OF JACKSON HOLE
Residential Mortgage Rates for July 1, 2009

The following rates are thirty (30) day quotes for fully documented, owner-occupied and/or second home loans for borrowers with a minimum credit score of 700 which feature a one (1%) percent loan origination fee and the escrow of taxes & insurance.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CONFORMING LOAN AMOUNTS OVER $417,000 TO $693,750
ARE AVAILABLE AT HIGHER INTEREST RATES THAN INDICATED BELOW.

PROGRAM CONFORMING
(Loans to $417,000)
JUMBO
(Loans over 417,000)
30 Year Fixed
5.125%
7.875%

15 Year Fixed
4.750%
6.875%

10/1 ARM
5.125%
7.875%

7/1 ARM
4.750%
5.000%

5/1 ARM
4.000%
4.500%

3/1 ARM
5.125%
6.625%

30 YEAR FIXED RATE FHA LOANS TO $693,750: 5.375%
PRIME RATE: 3.250%
ONE YEAR LIBOR RATE: 1.590%

For additional information on Jackson Hole Real Estate please call the Jackson Hole Experts - Christy and Garth Gillespie - 877-739-8056.

The Jackson Hole Experts – Christy and Garth Gillespie – have just updated our Top Picks of the Week! Every other week the Jackson Hole Experts update our Top Picks with the Best New Jackson Hole Listing, the Most Notable Closed Jackson Hole Transaction and the Best Jackson Price Reduction on a Listing. At the bottom of that page we have a link that takes you to our Top Picks of the Week.

The Top Real Estate Picks of the Week in Jackson Hole is a selection of properties Christy and I feel are well priced for our market and can be considered a Top Pick of the Week. We currently list 3 properties.

In new exciting news the Jackson Hole Experts contracted with our wonderful website designer to create the “Jackson Hole Real Estate Power Rankings”. Here we will start to rank the Top Ten Real Estate deals in Jackson Hole. This is going to be an exciting challenge as we have the opportunity to move properties up and down the list as new listings come aboard, current listings have price reductions or the real estate market changes in certain locations. Stay tuned as we will be getting the Jackson Hole Real Estate Power Rankings online in the next few weeks.

The current market is showing some signs of activity. Yesterday at the Sotheby’s International Realty – Jackson Hole Brokerage – Wednesday morning meeting multiple properties were announced as “pending-under contract”. The list included a condo at the Aspen’s, a vacant lot in the Jackson Hole exclusive neighborhood of Indian Springs and a small, older home in the Town of Jackson. This is great to hear!

For more information on Jackson Hole Real Estate please contact the Jackson Hole Experts toll free at 877-739-8056 or visit our website.

In changing times it’s important to have people we can call on for advice we can trust! At The Jackson Hole Experts, one of those people is T.R. Pierce. T.R. is a mortgage broker with The Bank of Jackson Hole. He has worked with many of our clients here in Jackson and regularly provides our team of REALTORS with the latest in mortgage news. We received information below from T.R. today and with his permission we are sharing it with you. It looks like mortgage rates are on the rise. If you’re a Jackson Hole first-time home buyer this could impact your purchasing power. If you are a homeowner with a mortgage coming up for renewal, you’ll want to consider your options carefully. If you have a question about your current or future Jackson mortgage needs, T.R. is a great guy to call on! You can call him at 307.734.8111.

Rates are unchanged this morning on an unexpected rise in jobless claims causing investors to sell again. A day after the Federal Reserve expressed confidence in the economy, the government said new jobless claims rose by 15,000 to 627,000 last week. The market expected a decline and stock futures fell ahead of the market’s open on Thursday. Although rising unemployment claims shouldn’t be surprising to investors since unemployment usually continues to increase even when the economy is improving, the uncertainty about when the economy will turn around. and how fast it will grow makes for rocky times in the market. The Dow average remains up 26.8 percent from its 12-year low hit on March 9, but it is down nearly 500 points, or 5.7 percent, from the five-month high it reached on June 12..

BANK OF JACKSON HOLE
Residential Mortgage Rates for June 25, 2009

The following rates are thirty (30) day quotes for fully documented, owner-occupied and/or second home loans for borrowers with a minimum credit score of 700 which feature a one (1%) percent loan origination fee and the escrow of taxes & insurance.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CONFORMING LOAN AMOUNTS OVER $417,000 TO $693,750
ARE AVAILABLE AT HIGHER INTEREST RATES THAN INDICATED BELOW.

PROGRAM CONFORMING
(Loans to $417,000)
JUMBO
(Loans over 417,000)

30 Year Fixed
5.250%
7.875%

15 Year Fixed
4.750%
6.875%

10/1 ARM
5.250%
7.875%

7/1 ARM
4.750%
5.000%

5/1 ARM
4.125%
4.500%

3/1 ARM
5.125%
6.625%

30 YEAR FIXED RATE FHA LOANS TO $693,750: 5.375%
PRIME RATE: 3.250%
ONE YEAR LIBOR RATE: 1.640%

Christy and I had a wonderful weekend here in Jackson as we attended 2 events put on by Dancers’ Workshop. What a show the Elisa Monte Dance Company delivered on Saturday at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts.

The evening started with Christy and me going to the Snake River Grill with friends Mike Stern and Bridget Mullen, Dana and John Wright, Heidi and Danny Yost and Ann Dwan. We had an excellent assortment of the Grill’s light menu which included tasty Fish Tacos, the incredible Steak Tartar Pizza and the just about famous Potato Pancake with Smoked Salmon.

We then headed to the Center for the Arts to attend a performance by Elise Monte Dance Company. We were both blown away by the talent on the stage from the dancers and just how entertaining it was. The first act, “Pigs and Fishes” was fantastic with a lot of soloing and also group dancing. After intermission we were entertained by a new dance called Zydeco Zare which included live music by Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys.

On Sunday evening we headed back to the Center for a wonderful family event again sponsored by Dancers’ Workshop. Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys were the headliners. The band rocked and it was refreshing to hear the sounds of New Orleans ringing through the Center. This was just an incredible event staged inside the Performing Arts Theater where friends, families and mostly locals danced out hearts out! There was excellent Cajun food ,great beer from the Snake River Brewing Company and just a general festive feeling in the aire. The weather even cooperated and was nice enough for the event to be outside but after the past 2 weeks of dreadful weather it was an easy decision to move most of the event inside. I am sure the band was happy as it got cold quickly as soon as the sun went down. Plus the acoustics were excellent inside the Center.

Thanks again Dancers’ Workshop! Babs Case, artistic director, for Dancers Workshop deserves some praise. Thank you, thank you!!

Last week Christy and I received an email from Kathy Korte, President and CEO, of Sotheby’s International Realty, updating us on ways the private sector are trying to jumpstart the sluggish housing market. A Business Roundtable was formed and here are the results of that meeting.

Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations and specifically, the Business Roundtable’s Housing Working Group – which is chaired by Realogy CEO Richard A. Smith – issued a set of recommendations for the White House and Congress that are aimed at jumpstarting the housing market in order to stimulate a broader economic recovery.

The Business Roundtable’s recommendations are as follows:
· Keep mortgage interest rates at historically low levels (below 5 percent) for at least one year;
· Expand the current First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit incentive from the lesser of 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000 to a higher limit of either 10 percent or $15,000 for all homebuyers, remove the income restrictions and include all primary residence purchases for one full year;
· Conduct a thorough review of current foreclosure mitigation and loan-modification programs in light of rising loan-modification re-default rates;
· Make permanent the current temporary conforming loan limits; and
· Continue to review and strengthen government efforts already underway to review and refine mortgage lending practices.

“We believe targeted, demand-side solutions – such as the ones Business Roundtable is recommending today – will provide a critical next step for a housing recovery that will help create jobs and boost the economy as a whole,” said Smith in the Business Roundtable’s press release.

To obtain a copy of the Business Roundtable press release and its Housing Working Group’s detailed recommendations, click here. To read an article that appeared in today’s online edition of The Wall Street Journal containing an interview with Richard Smith about the Business Roundtable’s recommendations and why they are crucial to jumpstarting the housing market, click here

NRT and The Jackson Hole Experts, Christy and Garth Gillespie, applauds the Business Roundtable for its proactive efforts to reinvigorate the U.S. housing market, and we are proud of the leadership role our parent company, Realogy, has taken in this regard.

For more information on the current housing market here in Jackson Hole please feel free to call at 877-739-8056 or visit us at our website.

The Jackson Hole Experts just listed a completely remodeled 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom condo in the heart of Jackson Hole. We are talking 5 minutes walk from the town square, 5 minutes (in ski boots) from the base of Snow King Resort, 1 minute from the local bus stop and within walking distance from all the local taverns.

We are very excited about the opportunity to represent all segments of the real estate market in Jackson Hole. It is of course an honor to work with sellers of multi-million dollar listings and we work extremely hard to represent these properties but it is just as much of an honor to assist first time home buyers and entry level sellers in helping them take another step up in the market.

This particular property is located at 140 East Kelly, Jackson, Wyoming. It is about 500 square feet with a full kitchen and bathroom. There are laundry facitlities on the premises. New windows and doors, newer roof on the complex, updated appliances — it’s all here. Homeowner fees are very reasonable at $1560 and taxes were just above $1,000 in 2008. This building and price range qualify for the government stimulus credit of $8,000 (see previous posts for details) and also FHA loans (3-10% down).

Call us for details and and to learn more about the Jackson Hole real estate market - 877-739-8056.

Christy and I just got out of our Sotheby’s International Realty morning meeting and have some new statistics to share with all of you. Today’s meeting was not as encouraging as last weeks when we saw 5 new pending transactions - this week we announced just 1 (vacant lot in Willowbrook under contract).

The Jackson Hole Experts have been working our tails off. Last week we listed 3 more properties. We are so grateful to the many sellers out there that have confidence in our marketing program. We believe that the combination of Christy and Garth Gillespie and Sotheby’s International Realty is hard beat and we wake up every day trying to do our best. We look for new, creative marketing ideas, we make sure we have updated photography, we network with the right people….it is on going and effective.

The May 31, 2009 update sums up the market quite well — 43 transaction since January 1st! Yep - 43… The previous low was 2008 with only 127 closings and before that it was 2003 with 186 closings already. This is a shocking number! Jackson Hole Real estste sales volume is half ($66.5 million) of what it was in 2003 ($122 million). The unit volume peaked in 2005 and 2009 unit sales are down 85% from that level. Sales volume peaked in 2007 and 2009 volume so far is down 79% vs. 2007. Days on market is just about irrelevant with so few deals. Prices are hard to fine tune into a pattern but 20% off the high selling prices seems to be a number we are seeing quite a bit. That is about all we can say about the current/past market.

Where do we go from here? An interesting marketing tool that Sotheby’s of Jackson Hole has started in the past 2 months seems to be working. Here at Sotheby’s we have a pricing committee which is comprised of 12 working real estate agents. The pricing committee talks about the market and the current listings at Sotheby’s. They discuss current trends and closings that have occured during the past few months. They also evaluate Sotheby’s current listings on the market. They then select the best values on the market. In turn Sotheby’s uses the top section of our advertising to highlight these exceptionally priced properties. During the past 2 months - 50% of the Sotheby’s listings that have sold have come from this list! Currently 50% of the under contract properties Sotheby’s has listed came from the “priced great” list. Christy and I are meeting with seller’s weekly and we are doing our best to assist them in understanding the market — we are advising our seller’s to make the list with our original listing price.

For details on what makes listing homes or land with Christy and Garth Gillespie and Sotheby’s International Realty different than any other “agency” or “associates” in Jackson Hole - call us toll free at 877-739-8056 or on our cell at 307-413-5243. We are very excited to be busy and we are working very hard to increase transactions in this difficult market.

Here is a very interesting read from Barron’s:

Barron’s Article

Notice the Jackson Hole listings? More to come on the next few blog posts about the current market — some highlights - some lowlights…..

For information on the Jackson Hole real estate market please contact the Gillespie Real Estate Team - Garth Gillespie, Christy Gillespie, Don Alsted - The Jackson Hole Experts!

It’s time for our JH monthly real estate update and we have encouraging news on the Jackson Hole real estate market – there’s a pulse! We are finally starting to see some meaningful movement on the seller’s side of things (list prices are coming down – averaging 15%) and the result is that some buyers are taking advantage of this movement.

Today (6/3/2009) at the Sotheby’s International Realty office meeting we had many agents report “under contract properties”. This included a walk in customer who wrote a contract on an in town property priced over $1 million, a home in Rafter J, a vacant lot south of town, a vacant lot north of town at the Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis and a condo in the town of Jackson. The one area that raised our eyebrows was that fact 2 more vacant lots went under contract. We have been discussing the market with a lot of people and we keep mentioning that we feel that the vacant lot segment of the market will help pull the market out of its slump and we are starting to see that prediction come true. Construction prices are low, material prices are low, design and layout services are lower and available – there’s just a lot of indicators that make us believe that vacant lots make some investment sense at the moment.

The issue in the market continues to be inventory – over 850 listings compared to 470 at this time last year and that equals 42 months of inventory at the current sales pace. There are many choices for buyers in all price ranges. If you do not like one house there is another to look at. If a buyer makes an offer and it is not well received, there is another seller to entertain. Sometimes deals are not occuring but we are starting to see a lot more of them coming together when compared to 3 months ago.

We are still waiting for the low end market to see these indicators and to adjust to the market. There is a general consensus and there is starting to be a statistical pattern that the market is responding to a 25% discount from the high market. There is confusion on where the high was but generally the highest sale in a like category minus 25% gives us a current value. Sure there are exceptions but currently the lower end market (under $500,000) has not adjusted any where close to this adjustment and it is showing in pending transactions – 3 pending deals….

Make sure you check out www.jacksonholeexperts.com (link is below). We have a lot of great new listings and have just updated our extremely popular Top Picks Page. Christy and I select great values on the market every few weeks and update them on the Top Pick page. Next month we will have the 2nd quarter review – stay tuned. Thanks for reading and if you would like additional information of the Jackson Hole market please call us toll free at 877-739-8056. We also love referrals so if you have anyone interested in Jackson Hole real estate or thinking about listing please let them know about us!