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.

Real estate sales in Jackson Hole in the first quarter of 2020 were slightly lower than sales in the first quarter last year. After just barely outpacing 2019 in January and February, a slower than usual March (with 7 fewer sales) contributed to an overall drop in sales from Q1 2019 to this year. Despite having 4 fewer sales, overall dollar volume was up about $15 million in Q1 2020, with higher monthly sales volume in all 3 months of the first quarter this year (even in March which had the 7 fewer sales). After seeing consistent average prices in January and February, the average sale price in March 2020 was up 44% versus March 2019, thanks to several high-end sales last month. As a result, the overall average sale price of Q1 2020 was up 12.5% versus Q1 2019. In looking at the median sale price, we see a somewhat similar trend. After falling short in both January and February, the median sales price in March was significantly higher, recording the highest median sale price in over a year and pulling the overall average of Q1 median sale prices in line with Q1 2019 ($1.415 million vs $1.453 million).

Which price point saw the most sales in the first quarter? Property sales in the $1-3 million range represented the majority of sales in each of the first 3 months in 2020, accounting for 40 of the 91 sales in the first quarter (44%). This is slightly higher than 2019, where 40% of sales occurred in this price point. The first quarter of 2020 saw 3 more high-end sales (above $3 million) but 11 fewer sales in the under $500,000 segment, a decline of 61%. While single family homes made up a similar percentage of sales in Q1 2020 versus Q1 2019, the first quarter of 2020 saw 9 more lot sales and 9 fewer condo/townhome sales than the first quarter of 2019.

The number of new listings entering the market in the first quarter of 2020 was nearly identical to the first quarter of 2019, however the timing of these new listing entering the market was very different. January 2020’s 32 new listings paled in comparison to the 55 new listings in January 2019. This difference may be explained by the fact that after a dynamite 2018, many sellers were encouraged to put their properties on the market in early 2019. February 2020 saw an unusually high number of new listings with 20 more properties hitting the market compared to February 2019. Finishing out the first quarter, new listings in March 2020 were consistent with March 2019. Despite having a similar number of new listings as Q1 2019, the dollar volume of the new listings in Q1 2020 was significantly higher, recording $93 million more in listing volume, an increase of 44%! Even though January 2020 saw 23 fewer sales than Jan 2019, dollar volume was strong ($110 million). February 2020’s new listing volume surpassed January, recording $88 million more in listing volume than February 2019. Finally, March 2020 outpaced March 2019 by $14 million. The average listing price has been declining since a high in December of $3.9 million, dipping below $2 million for the first time since November 2019. Despite the declining trend, the average listing price for the entire quarter was still nearly $1 million higher than the average listing price in Q1 2019. The median list price followed a similar trend. After a high of $2.3 million in January, we’ve seen a significant drop in each of the last two months, down to just above $1 million in March, the lowest median list price in over a year. However, the average median list price of Q1 2020 was still approx. $600,000 higher than this time last year.

The majority (40%) of new listings entered the market between $1-3 million in the first quarter of 2020. February was the most popular month for this price point with 20 new listings hitting the market. Interestingly, March saw a surge of listings in the $500,000 – $1 million segment, when 19 new options entered the market. Comparing quarter to quarter, 2020 saw more new listings in all price points (including the high-end where 10 more listings hit the market) with the exception of the entry level. There were only 5 new listings under $500,000 in the first 3 months of 2020 vs. 24 new listings in Q1 2019. Note: 18 of the 24 new listings represented the newly remodeled Virginian Village Condos, new to the market during Q1 last year.