New project construction has slowed in Jackson Hole. Cottonwood Flats in West Jackson, pictured here, is one of the few new free-market housing developments in recent years.

Earlier this week I wrote a short blog post for jhpropertyguide.com discussing the available building sites in Jackson Hole. Two aspects I did not touch on, however, were recent sales and under contract listings in this market segment.

It certainly wouldn’t have taken long to add them: according to Teton County Multiple Listing Service there have been just 10 building site sales in Jackson Hole since July 1, 2009. And there are just three such sales pending.

Of the 10 sales in the past year, four were in the Town of Jackson and three of those were in the new Daisy Bush addition in (Far) East Jackson. Additional highlights of this search include:

• The high sale was for 6.21 acres in Moose that sold for $2 million in September after 51 days at full price. The next best sale was for 0.69 acres in Teton Village that went for $1.5 million in March.
• A 6.15-acre lot in Flat Creek Fishing Club sold in June for $1.2 million after 330 days on market and a reduction from $1.395 million.
• The largest parcel, by far, to sell was a 21.2-acre piece off Henry’s Road near Hoback Junction for $800,000. This was a bank-owned property that was on the market as a short sale for approximately four months, originally listed at $895,000.
• The three pending sales are all in very different neighborhoods and of very different sizes – 3 Creek Ranch (0.53 acres), Little Horsethief Canyon (4.62 acres) and Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis (1.01 acres) – but all have list prices between $665,000 and $759,000.
• The Daisy Bush sales were all for $350,000 for approximately 0.17 acres.

For comparison, during the year between July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2009, there were 25 sales of building sites in Jackson Hole; during the year prior to that there were 41 sales for a total of 76 sales between July 1, 2007 and today.

Clearly, sales of building sites are lagging residential sales significantly, and this has correlated to a marked slowdown in several sectors including construction, architecture, and related businesses. Coupled with relatively high inventories of existing residential inventory and building sites, it is not clear when sales of raw land will increase.

One encouraging indicator, however, is that price reductions for raw land have been seemingly on the increase, which is often a precursor to increased activity.

Contact me for a more thorough analysis of available building sites or a personalized search of Jackson Hole properties.