• Jackson is second most expensive town for housing in U.S.; Evanston is most affordable

By Jackson Hole News&Guide staff
Via Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — Jackson is the second-most expensive town in the U.S. in terms of both the price of real estate and the price of homes compared to income, according to a report from mortgage and loan aggregator LendingTree.

Jackson’s pricey real estate was only outdone by Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. Vineyard Haven is on Martha’s Vineyard, the tiny island off the coast of New England, where presidents and celebrities vacation.

In raw dollars, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, Jackson Hole and Breckenridge, Colo., were the towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 found to have the most expensive real estate in the U.S., according to the report.

The median home values in those micropolitan areas were $857,600, $670,100 and $641,900, respectively.

Relative to income, homes in Vineyard Haven, Jackson and Hailey, Idaho, were the most expensive. In these areas, median home values were an average of 8.57 times higher than median area household incomes.

Drive about three hours south of Teton County, however, and you’ll find two of the most affordable housing markets in the country in the Evanston and Rock Springs areas.

Of the towns in the study, homes that were the least expensive relative to income were in Evanston, Los Alamos, N.M., and Rock Springs. The median home value in these areas is an average of 2.72 times higher than the median area household income.

“Unfortunately, high housing costs can be very difficult for many small town residents to deal with,” LendingTree’s Senior Economist and report author Jacob Channel said.

“This is especially true in areas that are popular vacation destinations — like most of the towns that populate the higher end of our study’s ranking — where buyers who earn their money elsewhere and only live in a town part time can afford to outspend an area’s full-time residents,” Channel said.

The report’s figures were based on the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau community survey data, which uses property owners’ estimates of what their homes are worth. More recent Census Bureau estimates and local real estate calculations paint an even more dramatic picture of unaffordability with the passing days.

The Census Bureau’s estimates for 2022 place Jackson’s median home value at $836,300 and median household income at $83,289, which makes home values more than 10 times household income.

Teton County’s real estate prices have continued soaring this year, breaking records, according to the Viehman Group’s semi-annual real estate report. In the first six months of 2023, the median home sale price was $3.35 million for a single-family residence and $1.69 million for condos and townhomes. No homes sold for less than $1 million. The least expensive vacant lot went for $650,000. About 70% of sales were in cash.