Unreported sales push August sales volume above $100 million

The Colbert Real Estate Report

Monthly Market Update for Sept 2015

Jackson Hole, WY

Summary – Aug 2015:

51:: Total residential sale transactions (up after 2 low months)
$40,500,000 :: Total residential sales volume reported to MLS (back up after a slow July)
$103,700,000 :: Total residential sales volume including unreported sale prices
$1,070,000:: Average sales price of reported sales (back up after a down month)
$2,034,000:: Average sales price including unreported sale prices
96% :: Ratio of sales price to list price (same as last few months)
201 :: Average days on market prior to selling (up after 5 months of decline)

What it means: After a slow June and July, August picked up the pace logging over 50 transactions last month, falling in line with May 2015, and marking the 3rd highest monthly transaction level in the past year. Reported sales volume increased slightly compared to July, however reported sales do not tell the whole story for August. Last month there were 13 property sales that did not disclose the sales price to the MLS. Many times, buyers and/or sellers do not want the real estate community to be privy to the agreed upon sales price of a particular property. This usually occurs with higher-end luxury properties (in this case 8 of the 13 unreported sales in August were for over $2 million). When factoring in these unreported sales, August’s sales volume spikes to over $100 million (!) – the highest monthly sales volume not only in the past year but since October 2013. The average sales price increased slightly in August but continues to hover near the $1 million mark. However, when adding in the 13 unreported sales, the average sales price increases to more than $2 million, or 2x the typical average. A property’s average days on market jumped up after a 5 month declining trend. This can be explained by several of the higher-end sales in August, as these properties tend to sit on the market longer because the buyer pool is much smaller (as compared to say, a $400,000 townhome in Town). That being said, we continue to see well priced and high demand properties go under contract very quickly. Twenty-two of the 51 sales in August (or nearly one half) sold within 3 months of being listed (with many selling very close to the listing prices).