Rick Armstrong

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort set to open Novemebr 29th, 2008. The earliest opening ever. The big question is will it happen? Upper mountain snow is good from skier report on Teton pass. the temps are allowing them to make snow on AV (Apre Vous) . So the answer is - we will see.

The Spud drive-inn has offically closed for the season. But let's not forget next season. To get to the Spud- Take Hwy 22 west from Jackson to Wilson then over Teton Pass into Victor, Idaho. Continue on the same road until you see "Old Murphy" pictured above and of course the screen. When you are there, don't forget grab a burger and fries. It is like stepping back into the 50's and the food is great. It was ranked as the best drive by Entertainment tonight. It is also registered in the National Register of Historic Places.

The movie are usually current releases. The peopl are great and it makes for a classic experience.

Jackson Hole continues to see a major slow down in sales. Price reductions are abundant. The continuation of the stock market decline and weakness in the national and global economies have continued to put downward pressure on pricing. Many sellers of Jackson Hole properties have not become realistic in pricing. It is what I would call denial. My advice to sellers is do not sell now unless you have too. If you have to sell now, price your real estate way below what everybody else has similar things priced at. If you are looking to buy into the Jackson Hole real estate market, the time is starting to get good. There have been a few exceptional values in our market. One thing to remember is you are buying into Jackson Hole. One of the most pristine enivirons in the world. Home to the lower 48's largest untouched wilnerness. It is home to the headwaters of the Snake River making it a good bet on longterm water supply. The schools are excellent. Crime is low. Cultural activities are unrivaled in a town of this size. etc.. etc.

The Jackson Hole Real Estate Market had been defying gravity for the last couple of years, that is, until this spring.   Last year, while the nations real estate market suffered one of the most dramatic declines since the 80's. We in the jackson hole real estate business enjoyed double digit price appreciation.   That party is over for now.   In combination with the credit squeeze and the fall of the stock market we have seen recent sales come to a halt.   I am sure that most real estate brokers in our area will cringe when they read this but I am not writing this to appease them or to talk someone into buying something from me, under the guise that it is going to keep going up.  Though I do believe in the "long term" it will.   I think people want to know the true story.    My thought is,  we are going to see a "correction", to what level  is any ones guess.    For the market to truly go down would be a remarkable feat if you go from the prior four year time period as our values are up 144% over that time.  Now if a property was bought last year it might have been bought at the very top of the market so there is a down side.    There are a few shining lights in our area.    One, the inventory increase has subsided likely because many of the Jackson hole property owners realize that now is not a great time to sell and they have the financial ability to wait it out.   Two, the high end of the market has held steady.  Three, we have been seeing  sales in the  very high end of the market (10 million + ) which by the way, skews our numbers. Here are the numbers for the Jackson Hole Valley comparing 365 days starting in October 2006-2007 compared to 365 days over the same dates ending in October 2007-2008. Total number of listings is up +19% to 1,116 Listings from 941 the year prior. Total number of sales down - 42% to 278 sold from 478 sold in 2006-2007, Total Sales dollar volume down -27% to $456,359,749 from $627,169,240. The median sales price was UP to $947,500 from $749,500 an increase of +26% . The average sales price was up +25% TO $1,641,582 FROM $1,312,070 . Summation: Prices are still high and we did see another major increase average and median sales prices. This is due to the large percentage of sales being very high-end. In the lower end of the market (Below 1.5 million) the market has slowed to a trickle. The next six months is going to be very telling as to the real condition of our real estate market in Jackson Hole.

A quick summary of the Jackson Hole real estate market with a simple year over year comparison.

Between January 1st 2007 and March 21st 2007 there were 135 properties for sale in the Jackson Hole Valley.

The lowest priced unit was $295,000 Ponderosa Condo, 712 square ft not remodeled (sold for 281,000)

The Highest priced property was 100 Acres at the base of Teton Village for $37,500,000 with 3 structures (listing canceled)

Between January 1st 2008 and March 21st 2008 there were 142 properties for sale.

The Lowest priced unit is 1 br, 624 sq ft for $331,000

The highest priced $32,000,000 Owl Creek on 106 Acres 7346 sq ft house 6br 7.5 bths

Currently there are 19 properties pended. The most expensive being a 4.250,000 Willowbrook home (Under contract by one of my agents here at RARE Properties)

This time last year there were 23 properties pended.

If you want more information please feel free to contact me directly at 307-733-8726 or email me from my webs