If you’re looking to buy a house, while interest rates remain higher, the market is more favorable to buyers right now.

“We’re expecting spring and summer to just have a little bit more buying and selling activity than last year, and we think that prices will continue to be more favorable on the buyer side, with sellers offering more concessions and opportunities to aid buyers in their lending,” said Melissa Maier, president of the Northwest Wyoming Board of Realtors. “Last season, it was really quiet. To see that activity being restored is refreshing, knowing that there’s just a little bit more movement and less stagnation.”

High interest rates

As of this month, home interest rates remain volatile due to geopolitical tensions and stubborn inflation, with the 30-year fixed rate averaging around 6.37%, down slightly from previous highs, but well above the 3% offered during the early days of Covid. 

“We just don’t really know where they’re going to go next, and as we track them things have been consistently hovering in the sixes, but we don’t necessarily know week over week if they’re gonna hike into the sevens,” Maier said.

To help though, sellers are making more concessions such as interest rate buydowns, covering things like closing costs and buying down buyer’s interest rate. 

“Sometimes that technique comes in place of a price reduction,” Maier said. “So if a seller’s weighing the option of dropping their price $10,000 they may instead weigh applying $10,000 into the contract of the purchase toward the buyers’ closing costs and prepaid order to help them get a more favorable interest rate. It’s just a little bit of a different technique to get buyers to a good place, and sellers essentially the thing they’re looking for.” 

There’s also more promotions being offered by lenders to aid buyers with the current rates. That creativity can help people get into a house, with the hope that they could eventually refinance their loan into a more favorable interest rate in the future. 

Action picking up

Last year when the NWBOR was expecting house sales to pick up, the market stalled. Maier attributes the slowdown to a variety of factors including the 2024 election, as anytime there’s an election handoff it can inflate or deflate shifts in buying.

“When there is a leadership turnover, people are thinking about their money, and are feeling confident or lacking confidence in the stock market,” she said. “And I think sometimes people hold their breath thinking, ‘Hey, there’s a change of the guard, that is going to reduce interest rates. I’m going to hold out until that happens.’” 

However, if you’re waiting for  favorable buying conditions, or another housing market crash, she adds this area has a market lag time and doesn’t feel near the effects as other areas of the country.

One positive to being more insulated though, is it keeps home values steady.

“We are confident that our home values will continue to hold strong, and that people will be able to be financially sound here,” Maier said. “People can generally sell out of a home and have made a profit over the past couple years.” 

Cody versus Powell

As is typical with a gateway to Yellowstone, Cody’s prices tend to run higher. Looking at stats on all sold residential listings for Powell and Cody from the NWBOR MLS database, Maier said Powell’s median home price is lower than Cody’s. Over the past 12 months, Powell has been about 21% lower than Cody, and from January to April 2026 it’s been about 18% lower. 

Powell’s average list price for homes sold in the last year was $441,631, with a median of $389,950. In Cody the average list price was $588,587, with a median of $497,000.

“It’s hard to know whether the trend will persist or not, but the median price difference for the 12-month period between April 1, 2024-March 31, 2025 (the 12 months before the past 12 months) was about 26% lower in Powell than in Cody,” Maier said.

Many who feel priced out of Cody’s home market have turned to Powell.

“Due to prices, people are relocating to Powell and working in Cody, because it’s such an easy commute now,” she said. “So I think a lot of people are just feeling like it’s easier to be fluid between these two communities. Therefore, if Cody is pricing me out, maybe I’m a first-time homebuyer, or I’m transitioning into wanting to find something that’s affordable, but bigger than what I’m in. Powell might be the place to do that.”

Homes are sitting on the market for an average of three months. Looking at homes for sale from October 2025 to April 2026, the highest days on market was 602, meaning someone put a house on the market and that’s how long it sat until it sold in that window. There were 151 listings sold, with average days on market at 102.

“If things are on the market for 90 days, don’t sweat it, because that’s normal,” Maier said. “It really just is taking longer to find a buyer, and we have plenty of things sitting on the market longer than 90 days.”

For the first months of 2026, there is a higher median days on market in Powell than Cody (101 versus 83), but also a higher percentage of listed properties selling in Powell than Cody (80.56% versus 40.22%). 

“We just aren’t moving our properties in Cody as fast right now,” she said. “Relative to the number of residential properties it has on the market, Powell is selling them faster and at lower prices than Cody.” 

Across the board, comparisons of list price to sold price in either town shows that actual sold prices are slightly lower than asking prices. This indicates that sellers are dropping prices and negotiating with buyers. 

And for those wanting to build a home, costs remain high. 

“Building costs are still pretty high per square foot,” Maier said. “Builders are quoting $250-$400 per square foot, with $250 being on the very low side.” 

Don’t give up hope

Maier’s message for potential buyers, especially first-time buyers, is not to give up hope and take advantage of resources available in the area. 

“I think it’s easy to get scared as market conditions and things change economically, and to feel like they’re never going to be able to afford a house at this rate,” she said. “I think people need to continue to think creatively, to think twice about buying a townhome or getting into something that has a more favorable price point they could build from.

“Talk to professionals in the area because lenders are there to help you understand how to get to your goal,” she added. “Don’t resign yourself to believing you can’t be empowered into home ownership, because there are lots of different ways to do it. It’s just having those conversations and getting a barometer for where you’re at, and where you need to be.”