A picturesque Montana town on the edge of Yellowstone National Park has managed to resist overdevelopment with one clever trick.
Despite a doubling of real estate prices in the area since the pandemic, the small town of Silver Gate has seen remarkably few new properties built, nor a large number of real estate transactions.
This is because the population of officially 19 people has made a secret, unofficial pact not to sell their homes or land to outsiders.
To buy in bison town (his name is Jackson), you must know a local bison, and they must deem you worthy of selling to.
‘To buy here you have to really know, or get to know, the person selling, a longtime local told DailyMail.com.
“It’s the only way they can be sure you’re not selling to a developer or someone who just wants a place for the holidays.”
Another local, who also asked not to be named, confirmed that locals are unwilling to sell to people from out of town, but that the issues were more complicated than personal preference.
‘Silver Gate has certainly put up a good fight against the development, especially as it is so close to the park. No one wants big houses or hotels built here so they can’t be sold to developers.”
According to the latest census data, Silver Gate, Montana has a population of 19
“But it is also about a limited supply, insurance and taxes,” explains the local entrepreneur.
‘We tried to buy a property in Silver Gate a year ago, but it was too expensive and too difficult to insure.
“It ultimately took eight months to sell that property.”
“If you want to buy there, you have to come in with cash due to the difficulties of getting a mortgage and insuring the property,” they explained.
Living in Silver Gate is indeed not for the faint of heart. The nearest main road, the Beartooth Highway, is closed seven months of the year due to the amount of snow, making trips to the larger supermarket a monthly occurrence in the winter.
“You sometimes get people who come to Montana and underestimate the winter months in a place like this,” the first local explained.
Real estate sales in the city are indeed low, but local real estate company Wilson and Wilson has recently sold a three-bedroom cabin in the city.
The cabin, with just 1.5 bathrooms and 0.29 acres of land, was on the market for $825,000 and sold in September, according to Redfin records.
The area has experienced tremendous growth in tourism, inspired by the hugely popular TV series Yellowstone
Attractions such as the Grand Prismatic Spring brought 4.5 million visitors to the park last year
In Montana, there is no requirement to publicly post a property’s sales price, which means it could exceed the list price or fetch less.
Before the recent sale, however, the cabin had been off the market for nearly 30 years and was appraised at just $145,000 in 2014, according to Zillow records.
The 1976 hut, typical of the town, has quirky period features including a pellet stove which heats the upper floor of the property.
The town has spectacular uninterrupted views of the surrounding mountains and the charming Soda Butte Creek trickling by.
Suzy Hahn, a real estate agent who sells properties in Silver Gate and nearby Cooke City, has lived in the area for more than 30 years.
Hahn says while locals enjoy the pristine beauty and don’t want development, the sales process is more complicated than personal preference.
If a property is on the open market, the seller cannot discriminate against buyers who show interest.
However, there are many family trusts in the region, Hahn explained.
These trusts help older property owners transfer their properties to the younger members of their family and avoid the open market.
The national park’s popularity has proven to be a double-edged sword, driving up real estate prices
Silver Gate locals have opposed the development, despite being on the edge of the park
The area is known as ‘America’s Serengeti’ due to its abundance of beautiful wildlife
Hahn also noted that while locals don’t want developers, much of the land is also protected by various zoning and environmental regulations.
There is currently nothing on the open real estate market in Silver Gate, just a mile from the park’s northeast entrance.
The popularity of the park, which attracted more than 4.5 million visitors last year, has become a double-edged sword.
Additionally, Montana and Wyoming saw an influx of people moving from out-of-state cities during and after the pandemic as remote workers and young families sought a lifestyle change among their natural beauty.
The area is also experiencing a tourism boom, inspired by the hugely popular TV series Yellowstone, the latest series of which is currently airing.
Small gateway communities like Silver Gate and Cooke City saw the resulting booms in real estate appreciation.
Homes in the area are listed for more than 50 percent more than in 2020, according to the price history of homes currently or recently for sale on Zillow.
Gardiner, a small community in the northwest part of the park, has seen average real estate prices increase by as much as 250 percent since 2017.
The average home sale in the city now exceeds $1 million, according to data from Realtor.com.
In Montana’s West Yellowstone—the closest town to the park’s famous landmarks like Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring—home prices have nearly doubled since 2017.
The average list price in the city was $840,000 last year.