A picturesque Montana town on the edge of Yellowstone National Park has resisted over-development with one neat trick.
Despite a doubling of property prices in the area since the pandemic the tiny town of Silver Gate has seen notably minimal new properties being built nor a large amount of real estate transactions.
This is because the population of officially 19 people have made a secret unofficial pact not to sell their homes or land to any outsiders.
In order to buy in the one-bison town (his name is Jackson) you have to know a local, and they have to deem you worthy of selling to.
‘In order to buy here you really need to know the person selling, or get to know them, one long-time local told DailyMail.com.
‘It’s the only way they can be sure you’re not selling to a developer or someone just wanting a place for the holidays.’
Another local, who also did not wish to be named, confirmed that locals are unwilling to sell to out-of-towners but that the issues were more complicated than personal preference.
‘Silver Gate has definitely resisted development well, especially being so close to the park, no one wants big houses or hotels coming here so they won’t sell to developers.’
Silver Gate in Montana has a population of 19 people, according to the latest census data
‘But it’s about limited supply, insurance and tax too,’ the local business owner explained.
‘We tried to buy a property in Silver Gate a year ago but it was too expensive and it was too hard to insure.
‘That property then took eight months to sell in the end.’
‘If you want to buy there you have to come in with cash because of the issues with getting a mortgage and insuring the property’ they explained.
Living in Silver Gate is indeed not for the faint-hearted. Its nearest main road, the Beartooth Highway closes for seven months of the year due to the volume of snow, making trips to the larger grocery store a monthly occurrence in the winter.
‘You do sometimes get people that come to Montana and underestimate the winter months in a place like this,’ the first local explained.
Property sales in the town are indeed low, but local real estate firm Wilson and Wilson recently sold a three bedroom cabin in the town.
The cabin, with just 1.5 bathrooms and 0.29 acres of land was listed for $825,000 and sold in September, according to Redfin records.
The area has seen a boon in tourism inspired by the immensely popular Yellowstone TV series
Attractions such as the Grand Prismatic Spring brought 4.5 million visitors to the park last year
In Montana it is not required to publicly list the sale price of a property, meaning it could exceed or have fetched less than the list price.
However, prior to the recent sale the cabin had not been on the market for almost 30 years, and was valued at just $145,000 in 2014, according to Zillow records.
The 1976 cabin, typical of the town, has quirky period features, including a pellet stove that heats the upstairs of the property.
The town has spectacular uninterrupted views of the surrounding mountains as well as the charming Soda Butte Creek which trickles 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 unspoilt beauty and don’t want development the selling process is more complicated than personal preference.
If a property is listed on the open market, the seller can’t discriminate against buyers who express an interest.
There are however, a lot of family trust’s in the area, Hahn explained.
These trusts help long-time property owners hand down their properties to the younger members of their families and avoid the open market.
The national park’s popularity has proved a double-edged sword, driving up property prices
Silver Gate locals have resisted development despite being on the edge of the park
The area is known as ‘America’s Serengeti’ because of its abundance of stunning wildlife
Hahn also noted that while locals don’t want developers, much of the land is protected by various zoning and environmental regulations too.
There is currently nothing on the open property market in Silver Gate, just one mile from the Northeast entrance to the park.
The park’s popularity, attracting more than 4.5 million visitors last year, has become a double-edged sword.
Furthermore, during and after the pandemic, Montana and Wyoming saw an influx of people moving from out-of-state cities, as remote workers and young families looked for a different lifestyle among their natural beauty.
The area has also seen a boon in tourism inspired by the immensely popular Yellowstone TV series, whose final series is currently airing.
Small gateway communities such as Silver Gate and Cooke City saw resultant explosions in property valuations.
Homes in the area are being listed for more 50 percent more than in 2020, according to the price history of properties currently or recently for sale on Zillow.
Gardiner, a small community at the north west of the park, has seen its median property list prices rise a staggering 250 percent since 2017.
The median home sale in the town is now more than $1 million, according to Realtor.com data.
West Yellowstone in Montana – the nearest town to the park’s famous attractions such as Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring – has seen home prices almost double since 2017.
The median list price in the town reached $840,000 last year.
