Reviewing first quarter stats is very helpful in evaluating the pre-pandemic real estate market to the post-pandemic real estate boom seen here in Jackson Hole as well as many other places in the country. We all know the market increased, but by how much? There were 40 more real estate sales in Q1 2021 than the same time in 2020, an increase of 44%. Despite seeing fewer sales in January 2021, sales in February and March were roughly double the pre-pandemic levels seen in early 2020. Sales volume has skyrocketed, with $175 million MORE in volume in Q1 2021, a staggering increase of 82% over the start of 2020. Similar to transactions, sales volume was inline with January 2020, but in February and March sales volume was double that of 2020, for a grand total of $389 million in the first quarter of 2021. It’s interesting to note that the 4-year average for sales volume in the first quarter is only $172 million – we’ve seen quite the increase over the last 5 years!

The average sale price was up each month and up $600,000 over the quarter, representing a 26% increase from early 2020. The median sale price was also up every month, ranging from $1.65 million to $2.14 million. Sales increased in nearly every price point with the largest increase in the $3 million and up segment, where there were 18 more sales in the first quarter of 2021. Sales in the $1-3 million range also saw a significant increase with 17 more sales this year. The biggest shift in property type was for vacant lots where nearly 2 times as many building sites sold in the first quarter of 2021, representing 24% of all sales (up from 16% in Q1 2020).

New listings in the first quarter of 2021 are actually up when compared to the start last year. The number of new listings this year outpaced 2020 in both January and March for a total of 10 more listings in the first quarter, an increase of 8.7%. This doesn’t necessarily mean there are more things to buy as nearly all of the available inventory was cleared out in Q3 & Q4 2020 during the pandemic inflicted real estate boom here in Jackson Hole. With only 10 more listings, the total listing volume was up $127 million, a staggering increase of 41.5%. After outpacing listing volume in January, and seeing similar levels in February, listing volume was $100 million higher in March 2021, with only 5 more listings. As to be expected, the average listing price jumped from $2.733 million before the pandemic, to $3.483 million in the start of 2021, an increase of $750,000 or 27%. This significant increase was no doubt helped by the month of March 2021 where the average listing price nearly reached $4 million. The average median listing price also increased significantly, going from $1.67 million to just over $2.2 million, an increase of over $500,000, equating to a 32% jump.

More building sites entered the market in Q1 2021, representing 23% of all new listings (vs. 17% in Q1 2020). Nearly all of the available lot inventory was sold out in Q3 and Q4 2020, no doubt encouraging other lot owners to take advantage of low supply levels and put their (snow covered) property on the market in early 2021. Currently there are only 19 lots for sale in all of Teton County! The first quarter saw a spike in new listings over $3 million with 20 more properties hitting the market in this price point. On the other end of the spectrum, there were 11 fewer listings under the  $1 million mark. Currently there are only 8 properties in all of Teton County available under $1,000,000.

After a record setting Q3 2020 (with 100 more transactions and more than double the sales volume), it was hard to imagine the trend would continue past the busy summer selling season. Well, 4th quarter sales suggest things are not slowing down – recording 107 more transactions than Q4 in 2019. Even more impressive was the sold dollar volume this past quarter – up a staggering $450 million from the fourth quarter in 2019. Put another way, while the number of real estate sales increased 81% over Q4 2019, the sales volume increased 177% from this time last year. These unprecedented statistics illustrate an ongoing explosion of demand in Jackson Hole real estate as out of town buyers continue to flock to places like Jackson Hole amid the pandemic. This seemingly bottomless demand for the JH lifestyle helped push the average sales price up more than $1 million over the 4th quarter of 2019. Sale prices increased across the market, with the median sales price up every month, including a $1.2 million bump in November alone. Nearly every price point saw significant increases in sales, with the most notable shift occurring in the high end luxury market, where 60 more properties sold above $3 million in Q4 2020. The only segment not seeing a significant increase in sales was the entry level, where 2 fewer properties sold under $500,000 in Q4 2020. Vacant land sales experienced an unexpected surge in sales, representing 28% of all sales in Q4 2020 vs. 14% of sales in Q4 2019. As existing single family homes were snatched up this past summer, many buyers were forced to purchase building sites as an alternative way to get into the Jackson Hole market. Single family homes sales represented only 33% of sales in Q4 2020 (vs. 47% of sales in Q4 2019).

New inventory was up in the fourth quarter, with 24 more listings hitting the market than in Q4 2019. More sellers put their properties on the market in October and November this year, no doubt encouraged by the booming real estate market. The dollar volume of those new listings also increased, up nearly $150 million over Q4 2019, thanks to a strong November that saw $172 million in new inventory hit the market. Overall, the average listing price was up in Q4 2020, with the majority of that increase coming from the month of November, where the average listing price was just under $4 million, up from $1.7 million in November 2019. The median list price followed a similar trend, with November’s median listing price $1.5 million higher than Nov 2019. The breakdown of listing price points was nearly identical between Q4 2020 and Q4 2019 with one exception – the luxury market ($3 million+) saw listings increase two fold, with nearly 50 properties entering the market in the last 3 months of 2020. Interestingly, this past December’s listings and listing volume didn’t see the same increases as the previous months in 2020. Listings, dollar volume and average/median listing prices were instead all on par with December 2019. Are things slowing down? Has everyone that wanted to sell already sold their properties? What is in store for inventory levels in 2021?