Median home price in Jackson above $1M

JACKSON - The median home price in Jackson Hole has topped $1 million.
Home prices elsewhere might be getting soft, but not here: The median price has risen 28 percent
in the past year, from $920,000 to $1.18 million.
The figures were compiled by David Viehman, owner and broker at Jackson Hole Real Estate and
Appraisal, which releases a market analysis each quarter. Viehman said Thursday that Jackson
Hole home buyers should expect to pay at least $1 million.
"Why is there a crisis?" Viehman said. "The median price was just barely $1 million in April. It's
almost at $1.2 million in three months. It won't be long until it's $1.3 or $1.4 million."
This time in 2003, the median price was $542,500, meaning home values have more than doubled
in four years.
He said 464 real estate transactions occurred in Jackson Hole over the first six months of this year,
while dollar volume was up 30 percent to $826 million.
Inventory, meanwhile, continued to shrink. Eleven percent fewer properties were for sale than in
the first six months of 2006.
"This lack of inventory continues to push the asking prices into a whole new realm," he wrote in his
report.
He said inventory has not been so low in Jackson Hole in decades.
"Overall, this lack of inventory coupled with the high demand will only continue to fuel our housing
crisis," he wrote.
The least expensive condo on the market as of July 1 was $512,500. At this time last year, it was
$205,000.
Viehman said the free market is to the point where locals can't afford Jackson Hole anymore. To
qualify for a loan for the least expensive condo, he said, a person or a couple would need to earn
$150,000 a year.
A $1 million property would typically require an income of at least $250,000.
"I don't know anybody making that kind of money unless they own their own business," he said.

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