We just got back from a 5 day trip to Sun Valley, Idaho where the real estate market is crazier than I thought. Danielle’s good friend Ashley Melin married Adam Ruback this weekend after an 8+ year relationship. I had the fortune of traveling to Sun Valley for the first time and to be honest, I was blown away. I can’t believe I have never been to that place before. We hiked up through the Sawtooth Range to a lake the locals call “Shangri La.” Without sounding like too much of a dork, I can understand why. The hike was pretty brutal as we hiked at a Melin pace for 1 and 45 minutes, across tree log (laying over water) “bridges”, steep inclines, loose rocks and temperatures that fluctuated between 70 and 50 degrees. It was the coolest hike I have ever been on. I am looking forward to my next trip back to the high desert in Idaho.

One of the things I heard before we left on our trip was that Sun Valley real estate was super expensive. Well, I learned that this is very true. The condos across the street from the house we were staying in were 4,500 sqft and selling for $4M….that is $4 million. I don’t think you can touch a house anywhere near Ketchum for under $1M or somewere close to it. Kinda sad when you meet all of the local people and realize that they will most likely be gone in the not so distant future as they will be priced out of the market. Driving to the airport in Hailey this morning, we (going southbound) passed an endless line of cars and trucks headed north to Ketchum for work. Sad that such a beautiful and pristine place has a traffic problem during rush hour. Especially, when you consider that Ketchum’s population is probably under 8,000 people.

One thing is for sure, I would love to own a home in Ketchum and I am looking forward to my next trip back.