Realtor: Out-of-staters help drive Wyoming’s housing market

(The Center Square) – The Wyoming real estate market doesn’t show any signs of slowing down with single-family home prices up 8.4% in 2020’s fourth quarter over the previous year.

The Wyoming Economic Summary Report also states that building permits for new construction of single-family homes are up 21.5% compared to 2019, as reported by Oil City News. Average home prices in the state have risen double the usual appreciation over the past year, according to Max Minnick, president of Wyoming Realtors and associate broker at Century 21 Bell.

“The market is definitely trending towards a bubble,” Minnick told The Center Square.

Competition for homes is increasing as more people find Wyoming attractive.

“We have a lot of people coming in from out of state right now, getting away from the bigger cities and into the Wyoming way of life,” Minnick said.

That way of life includes outdoor recreation and a conservative state government, Minnick said. He added that has heard politics mentioned a lot as the reasons for people moving into the state.

As a rural state, Wyoming’s housing supply is usually on the low side anyway, but now inventory across the state is even lower, according to Minnick.

“Typically, just for an example, the Cheyenne market averages 300-400 houses on the market at any given time, and they’ve currently got around a hundred houses on the market,” Minnick said.

Developers can’t build houses fast enough, Minnick said, but because the price of lumber has increased, so has the price of buildings.

As to whether a prospective home buyer should build or purchase a home ready to move in, Minnick said it comes down to timing.

“If you’re looking to build something specific for your needs, plan on it taking at least a year to get it done,” he said.

If someone is coming to Wyoming to start a new job, they’ll likely have to rent or buy an existing home, according to Minnick.

He expects home prices to continue their upward trend through the year.

Until interest rates go up, the market won’t slow down, and that’s not in sight, Minnick says.

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