Jason Shumway with RE/MAX Star Valley stepped into the SVI Radio studio for his monthly report regarding the current local real estate market.

On the heels of the approval of the Silver Brooke Estates in Afton, Shumway discussed the process developers go through once a subdivision receives final approval.

(0:00) Weekday wake up on SBI radio back into another guest interview segment this morning and our (0:05) monthly report from REMAC Star Valley. Jason Shumway with us today. Jason comes in once a (0:10) month just to talk real estate, what’s happening in the market, what to expect, what’s moving (0:14) forward, developments and whatnot.

And Jason, some recent happenings in the real estate market (0:20) around Star Valley with some large subdivisions. And of course, the Silverbrook Estate officially (0:25) approved by the Afton Town Council a couple of days ago. So kind of going that direction (0:31) a little with our topic this morning.

So when a big development like this one, (0:36) and there’s been a handful of them over the last few years across Star Valley and Leakey County, (0:40) once it’s approved, what happens next? Because houses don’t just start popping up right away, (0:45) right? No, they don’t. They don’t pop up right away. You know, there’s so obviously now, (0:50) the kind of the next step, obviously, the town and the developer, you know, they enter into (0:54) essentially a contract, you know, that he has to build things, how the town approved and as we (1:00) talked about a little bit last time, you know, it’s pretty, pretty extensive, you know, with (1:04) regard to like sewer and all those things that all has to be inspected.

And so that process, (1:11) essentially, will start, you know, this spring, you know, right away, and it’s going to be built (1:16) out over, it’s currently scheduled to be built out over four phases. So a lot of that is just (1:22) dependent on the market, you know, I mean, if if the market is very strong, and things are moving (1:29) relatively quickly, which is kind of what we’ve seen here in Star Valley recently, (1:34) overall, that phasing could come along a little bit sooner. But yeah, it’s, it’s, you know, so (1:39) he’s got to go through and install all of the sewer lines, the water lines, the, you know, (1:46) the pavement, all those things.

And so it’s not, it’s definitely not an overnight process. (1:53) And the current timeline, if everything in a perfect world, you know, that Silver Brook would (1:57) have pavements and some houses being built in there, you know, towards the end of this summer, (2:03) and maybe even a few families moved in by the end of the year. So you know, I think that’s like a (2:08) pretty ideal timeline and weather and all sorts of things factor into that, but not happening (2:12) overnight.

Yeah, not happening overnight, for sure. When you compare it to maybe some similar (2:16) situations, things like honeybee by the golf course, the rock bridge behind the Afton Elementary. I (2:23) mean, if you think about the timeline that those went through, this one would probably be something (2:27) similar to that, right? Yeah, absolutely.

And you know, and so those are great examples. And they (2:33) kind of tie into like a little bit of the market and what things are doing. So rock bridge, you know, (2:38) that subdivision was started in 2005, if I’m remembering correctly.

And, you know, so in 20 (2:45) years, they’re they’re not even 50% built out. So I mean, it’s, you know, there, there was a period (2:51) of time there after the recession in a way where not like nothing was happening, and it was just (2:55) sitting there. And so honeybees moving a little bit quicker.

But honeybees also at a little different (3:00) price point in the market. And there’s some more flexibility with the CC and ours and different (3:05) things down there. And so honeybees a great example, though, it kind of came on the hills (3:10) of COVID when everything was going crazy.

And the lot sold very quickly. You know, there’s still only (3:19) I think 14 or 15 houses built out of 45. So it’s about a third built after five years or so (3:25) approximately, but the the land was was bought right away.

And just those folks haven’t quite (3:31) all built, there’s nothing owned by the developer anymore. And it’s just people that have their (3:35) piece of ground, and they’re just waiting for, you know, whatever, you know, whatever the timeline (3:39) is for them to build. So but so a hot market for honeybee and a cold market for Rockbridge, (3:46) and both of them take years and years.

So you know, it’s just, and the market is currently good. (3:52) It’s not either of those. It’s not, you know, white hot, and it’s not.

It’s definitely not (3:58) in an O eight period, you know, nothing like that. And so it’s stable, it’s a good market, (4:03) we would anticipate this, you know, as like a probably like a 10 to 1215 year project, you (4:09) know, if we were just to like, guess, you know, so from from the point where it’s just been approved (4:15) to the point where it’s it’s built out. Yeah, kind of what you’re saying, right? Yeah, something like, (4:19) you know, some of the numbers that I’ve heard kicking around in different meetings is like 2040 (4:22) as like a completion, you know, for the project.

Those are just, you know, there’s a lot of guess (4:27) work in that, you know, there’s no no crystal balls. But yeah, it’s it’s a long time. I mean, (4:31) and a lot of things are going to change.

So everyone can, you know, it’ll the changes (4:36) will happen slowly, and we’ll kind of adapt to them as they as they happen. And it’s not (4:41) definitely not an overnight process. Jason Shumway in studio with REMAX Star Valley on the weekday (4:45) wake up and not just changes over the years, but as we’ve seen changes over courses of weeks, (4:51) depending on what’s happening, even around the world, of course, with with Iran and things (4:55) happening there.

So what have you seen rate wise with with homes and construction and mortgages (5:02) and that type of thing recently? Yeah, definitely. So it’s kind of interesting. So rates over the (5:06) last say, six months or so really starting kind of September of 25.

The Federal Reserve’s kind (5:13) of been and they’re not tied directly together, the Federal Reserve and mortgage rates, but they’ve (5:17) they’ve been slowly adjusting rates down, you know, in in the Federal Reserve. And that’s (5:22) gradually trickled through to like the mortgage market. The end of February rates were as good as (5:28) they’ve been in almost four years, they were actually quite good.

And the combination of that (5:34) and then you know, this amazing winter that we’ve had with lack of snow, it really kind of kicked (5:38) off the spring selling season that normally happens in May. That’s really happening right (5:43) now. And so the market’s very active with with buyers looking, you know, at different things.

So (5:48) in all honesty, if you’re considering selling and and some of those things, it’s not a bad time to (5:54) think about that, you know, because there’s a lot of people out there looking for sure. (5:57) So Jason Shumway, RE-MAX Star Valley on the weekday wake up this morning. Maybe just a quick (6:02) plug for you guys at RE-MAX for those that have been in Star Valley for a long time.

They know that (6:07) your office is what used to be the swimming pool way back in the day. But a new location coming (6:12) up soon for you guys, right? Yeah, new location. Yeah.

So we, we’ve kind of, we’ve been at the (6:18) swimming pool for a very long time. And, and, and we’re excited about our new spot. We purchased a (6:23) building right next to the Antler Arch in Afton right in right in Main Street here.

And I’ve been (6:30) renovating that for what seems like, you know, 20 years, honestly. But no, it hasn’t been that long. (6:36) But it’s just a lot of work and a lot of time, effort into it.

We’re very, very excited. So (6:40) we got a state of art facility down there. You know, it’s a great office, a good place to meet (6:45) people and, and, you know, just visit about options.

You know, there’s everyone’s timelines (6:51) different, you know, we do, as we mentioned last time, a lot of new construction, we do modular (6:56) home sales, we do land sales, we do development, we kind of specialize in a lot of things that (7:01) sometimes aren’t in the MLS, you know, a lot of those really good deals are not in the MLS. And (7:06) so it doesn’t matter what anyone’s timeline is, we encourage you to come down and, and, yeah, (7:11) check out the new place, say hi to us and just see what kind of options that might be out there for (7:15) you. Is the new place currently open or not quite yet? Not quite yet.

So next month, April is when (7:20) we’re scheduled to move in there. It is it is very, very, very close. Yeah.

So we’re just kind (7:26) of doing little loose ends, internet connections, that kind of thing. touch ups, but we’ve got 12 (7:32) offices down there, two storefronts, you know, lobby conference room, it’s great space. And so (7:38) it’s really going to work out good for Yeah, for everything that we’re involved in, you know, (7:44) at the brokerage level, and then also like, you know, with building and developing, it’s, (7:48) it’s a great spot, and good location, you know, a lot of a lot of visibility and a lot of, (7:53) you know, and so we’re really excited about it.

Jason Shumway, REMAC Star Valley on the (7:56) weekday wake up, we’ll touch base with Jason again, next month and talk more about what’s (8:01) in the real estate market around Lincoln County. So Jason, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

(8:05) You bet. (8:06) weekday wake up SBI radio.