A Profile of Buffalo, WY Real Estate
Buffalo, Wyoming is a small town of just less than 5,000 people, nestled at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains in Northern Wyoming. Similar to many small rural towns, Buffalo’s real estate market is skewed toward the lower end but is far from homogenous. While the mean housing price in 2009 for Buffalo was $188,287 (far less than the $278,300 national price) some properties are currently listed for sale in excess of $1,000,000; and even up to $5,000,000. A quick search of www.Zillow.com revealed 254 properties for sale in and around Buffalo, WY, with list price per square feet from $34 all the way up to $370. However, the prevailing asking price for the average home ($175,000 to $200,000) seems to be in the $90 to $120 per square foot range.
The housing bust and resulting recession has taken its toll on the Buffalo area real estate market. Land sales in the overall Johnson County area (population 8,014, including Buffalo) declined from 130 in 2006 to just 32 in 2009. Home sales during the same period declined from 139 to 76, or 45%. The Johnson County Property Assessor does not have a public website with property search capabilities; however, Johnson county sales data from 2009 was available from a local realtor via their website, at www.buffalowyominghomes.com. The data breaks out all 76 sales during 2009 by price range and days on market. Most of the sales are centered in and around the $150,000 to $199,999 category. From the data given, it appears that the average home spent 150 days on market before finally selling.
Many of the homes currently listed for sale are older, depression-era homes with some even built in the 1800s. And new building permits (which had reached 45 at its peak in 2007) dropped to only 1 in 2010. While this may seem alarming, it may also be an indicator of a healthier market down the road, as older homes will not have to compete for buyers with brand new homes boasting all new amenities.
The following websites were used as research to compile this article:
www.buffalowyominghomes.com (Mountain West Realtors)
www.buffalowyo.com (Buffalo, WY Chamber of Commerce)
www.Johnsoncountywyoming.org (Johnson County Government website)
www.city-data.com (city-data.com)
www.census.gov (U.S. Census Bureau)