Housing boom and bust in Hailey

 

HAILEY - It was probably the height of Hailey's housing boom -- the fall of 2005.

Four years ago this month, Blaine County realtor Suzanne Walsh took us on a tour of a well-established Hailey neighborhood.  The prices were staggering. 

We stopped the car so she could check the listing price of a small, timber-built home. It was $625,000 for an approximately 1,500 square-foot house. That's $417 a square foot!

Back then, the median home price in Hailey was $460,000. Today, it's $318,000, according to the Sawtooth Board of Realtors; a nearly $150,000 drop.

"It's a correction that took place," said Walsh. "It was reflective of a lot of different issues and we're dealing with it.  It's going to benefit some people, but it's going to hurt other people. It's really tough for a lot of people.  It's emotional.  It's devastating, financially."

"It's nice to have a home.  It feels good,"  said Josh Glider who represents the upside of this downturn. He started shopping two years ago when prices were out of his range. 

"I kind of gave up for a while and then started looking maybe six months later and the prices were in my ballpark, I guess," said Glider.

Then, Glider hit one out of the park -- closing on his first home.

"It's a three bedroom, two bath, two car garage and a nice backyard.  Everything I was looking for," said Glider.

Including the price tag.  Four years ago it sold for $370,000 -- Glider paid $229,000.

"He got a great deal, he got a great deal," said Walsh.

Walsh says there are deals throughout Blaine County. She says prices have reverted to what she was seeing in 2002.  But some difficult lessons have been learned during this boom and bust.

"I think we all need to buckle down and remember that real estate is overall a good investment, but there are going to be these rocky times."