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The Big Sky Real Estate Almanac 2013 Wrap Up by Eric Ossorio Supervising Broker, Prudential Montana Real Estate eric.ossorio@prumt.com, 406-539-9553 Back in 2005, it seemed as if you just couldn’t loose in Real Estate. Those were the days! Perhaps those salad days are “back”, perhaps not. Let’s looks at some fun facts and indicators to see what the tea leaves are telling us. But first, to get you in the mood, ponder the following puzzler: A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat cost $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? Now hold that thought. Back in 2011 and 2012, all reported MLS real estate transactions (Multiple Listing Service) in the greater Big Sky area numbered 220 in each year in each of the following classes of property: Commercial, residential, raw land, subdivided land, condos and town homes. In 2013, so far, the total number of MLS reported transactions in all classes of real estate is going to be over 310 by the time you read this, with about 50 “pending” transactions set to close this winter season. While some of those 50 transactions may not close, lets assume that 50% of them will, so we might see a full year of closed sales of about 335. That will be a 60% increase in activity over last year. “Wow!” you might say, and you’d be right. So let us take a closer look at how these transactions break down. So far, 215 of the 2013 sales are of residential (improved) properties. (In 2012 there were 170 residential sales.) The bulk of the sales, about 40%, or 80 properties, sold for under $250,000 and were in Condo Associations. 25% (20) of those
sales were in the Firelight Meadows Condos. Other popular Associations were Hill Condos, Cedar Creek, Stillwater, Shoshone and Summit Hotel units in the Mountain Village. In the Meadow area: Firelight, Yellowstone, Glacier, Silverbow, Aspen Court, Grey Wolf and Hidden Village. Jumping to the $250,001-$500,000 range, there were 64 sales. In this category, there is more of a mix of condos and homes, and in both Meadow and Mountain area properties. In 2012 there were 49 sales in this bracket. Mountainside we saw: Alpenglow, Big Horn, Black Eagle, a few Cascade Homes, and Elkhorn Creek, Powder Ridge, Saddle Ridge Townhomes, Moonlight Cabins, Skycrest, Shoshone and Summit Hotel. Meadowside we saw: Deer Run, Hidden Village, Lone Moose Meadows, Lone Peak Townhomes (Condo), Spanish Peaks Club, homes in Ramshorn Estates, Silverbow and homes in the BSOA, Canyon, Westfork and Southfork. Between $500,001-$750,000 there were 29 sales, with a representative mix of homes and condos. In 2012 there were 14 sales in this bracket...a 100% increase, more than double from the prior year. Condos represented: Arrowhead, Beaverhead, Crail Creek and Crail Ranch, Fairways, Moose Ridge, Powder Ridge, Saddle Ridge, San Marino, Spanish Peaks Club. Homes in that range also traded in the Gallatin Canyon, Porcupine Park, Pinewood Hills and South Fork. Between $750,001-$1,000,000, there were 23 sales. Here we see a significant, 65% increase from 2012 results of 14 sales: Black Eagle, Crail Ranch and Powder Ridge condos. The homes sold were in Aspen Groves, Antler Ridge, Beaver Creek West, Cascade, Cowboy Heaven, Meadow Village, Diamond Hitch, Pinewood Hills and the Club at Spanish Peaks. Between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000 there were 12 sales versus 14 sales in 2012, a slight decrease. 2 condos: A Summit Hotel and a Powder Ridge. 10 homes sold were in Buck Ridge Ranch,
Cascade, Moonlight Basin, Skywood, the Club at Spanish Peaks/ Big EZ and Summit View. Between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000 there were 3 sales. A Cowboy Heaven home, a Summit Hotel condotel, and a home in Beaver Creek West. In 2012, there were 2 sales in this bracket. Over the $2,000,000 mark, there were 5 sales...4 reported on MLS in the Yellowstone Club, as well as the Big EZ, which sold at auction. The top end sale of the market for which information is reported was $7,500,000. There are 4 sales “pending” on MLS: one each in the Club at Spanish Peaks, Sweetgrass Hills, Diamond Hitch and the Yellowstone Club. In 2012 there were 6 sales in: Cowboy Heaven, Sweetgrass Hills, Gray Drake, the Club at Spanish Peaks, Diamond Hitch and one home reported on MLS sold in the Yellowstone Club. Activity is up 60%, pricing is recovering, the market is stabilizing and there are still good values to be had in Big Sky, offering the Biggest Skiing in America. Next time, we will take a look at the Land Side, where there were 81 transactions, with about 30% of the sales between $100,000 and $200,000, and the 9 Commercial transactions with 2 improved properties and 7 land sales. Oh...the ball cost $0.05. To more fully understand why you may have thought the ball cost $0.10, read Daniel Kahneman’s: Thinking Fast and Slow. Eric Ossorio, is a Supervising Broker at Prudential Montana Real Estate in Big Sky, Montana where he’s lived with his wife and partner, Stacy for over 22 years, raising their three children here. Both have been active Brokers since the early 1990’s, and are involved community members. To contact Eric, call 406-5399553, or see prumt.com or www.ossoriorealestategroup.com.