Lack of inventory slows area housing market
February 3, 2022
WORLAND — Worland’s two real estate owners and brokers said after a hot housing market in 2021, 2022 is starting slowly due to lack of inventory in the area.
Both Nikki Donahue of Real Living Hake Realty and Alison Taylor-Sheesley of McGarvin & Taylor Real Estate said January is typically a slow month. Donahue noted that January in 2021 was an anomaly as it was busy, primarily with closings of sales started in December.
“This year we are behind but it is still steady. The lack of inventory makes it hard though,” Donahue said.
Taylor-Sheesley said there are nine houses on the market in Worland, 12 in Washakie County (as of Jan. 24). In a healthy market there should be around 45 in Worland, 55 in Washakie County.
She said the properties on the market range from $99,000 to $1.4 million. For first-time homebuyers the price should range from $135,000 to $200,000 to be eligible for first-time homebuyer loans.
Hake Realty, with offices in Worland, Ten Sleep, Thermopolis and Greybull, said the inventory in Thermopolis is a little better but nationwide inventory for homes is down.
Donahue said the Greybull-Basin area has “very low inventory.”
She added, “There are a lot of sellers looking for something to move into.”
Taylor-Sheesley said that there is a waiting list of buyers waiting for homes to come on the market.
Donahue and Taylor-Sheesley said occasionally, due to the waiting list, houses are under contract before they ever actually hit the market.
2021
Taylor-Sheesley said, “2021 was great all year but it slowed at the holidays,” which is typical. The market traditionally picks back up in March, but without inventory, she said it will be hard this year.
Taylor-Sheesley said her Realtors have seen a lot of out-of-town buyers in 2021. She said some come looking in the Buffalo, Sheridan and Cody areas but can’t find anything they can afford so “we get the overflow.”
She said they saw buyers from the West Coast and Colorado, with many expressing a desire to come somewhere with less crime. She added, “We are very free here,” regarding COVID-19 restrictions.
Donahue said her buyers in 2021 were not overwhelmingly from out of state but there were some who saw the fiber offered here and knew they could work from home in an area where the market was cheaper and there was more freedom recreationally.
She noted that higher-end homes sold well last year.
She said there were a lot of first-time homebuyers taking advantage of the low interest rates.
“2020 was a great year for real estate. We’ve had our two consecutive best years ever. 2021 blew 2020 out of the water,” Donahue said.
Taylor-Sheesley said in 2019 there were 117 homes sold, 2020 130 and in 2021 there were 145 homes sold in Washakie County.
2022
“In my 37 years in business I have never seen the housing market like this with high value homes and low inventory,” Taylor-Sheesley said. The last time she saw inventory near this low was the year Range came to the community in 1993 and there were 16 homes on the market.
The most sought-after inventory in the southern Big Horn Basin is three to four bedroom homes, they said. Donahue noted in Greybull and Basin there are hardly any larger family homes.
Taylor-Sheesley added they want at least two bathrooms and a garage, and many want homes in the country.
In Worland and Thermopolis, with an aging population, Donahue said they are seeing buyers want one-level homes, with three to four bedrooms.
Donahue said, “The market is going to cool down but it will still be a busy year. It is a seller’s market. It’s not a bubble that burst. It’s not like 2008 where mortgage fraud was creating a demand. We are decades behind in building and you can’t catch up on that with inventory.”
Taylor-Sheesley said with the cost of materials high, they will likely not be seeing a lot of construction this year.
Donahue said the expected interest rate hikes this year should help stabilize the market and brokers are going to have to go back to what they were initially intended to do – bring people together, people who are looking to upgrade with people who are looking to downsize, for example.