Sweetwater County, WY

It’s better than a gold mine, this wealth of resources beneath the very ground of Sweetwater County.

For a while, the energy industry drawn to the untapped caches of coal, crude oil and natural gas was building up so quickly the county couldn’t keep pace with demand for that most basic of needs: housing.

But more than four years into its growth spurt, the county and its largest city, Rock Springs, are offering much more than just the basics. The housing options available here are a Realtor’s – and a homebuyer’s – dream.

It’s a situation that Jim Anselmi, who deals mostly with commercial and industrial clients for Brokerage Southwest, has been waiting for.

“Everyone feels that Sweetwater is the place to be because of what’s happening in the oil (and gas) fields,” Anselmi says. “Over the past three or four years growth has so rapidly taken place, it has taken us a good two to three years to get things going in the housing end.”

Unemployment here is virtually nonexistent. For awhile, big companies would come in, set up and hire several hundred workers – even though workers couldn’t bring in their families because there just weren’t enough places to live. There were waiting lists to buy homes; people grabbed what they could – even hotel rooms and trailers.

Now, there are choices. Lots of them.

“We’ve had 68 subdivisions in the last five years that have been under construction or in some phase of construction,” says Dave Hanks, CEO of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce. The average price of a home here soared, but by fall 2008 seemed to be leveling off around $214,000, says Hanks, who thinks the prices will remain steady for now.

“What we saw initially was a lot of interest in single-family dwellings,” Hanks says. “What we’re seeing now is the second phase of that – we are starting to see more interest in apartment complexes.”

Some of the newer developments in Sweetwater County include Scenic Development Apartments, with 264 units in an 11-building complex in Rock Springs.

Morningside at Rock Springs is a community of luxury townhomes and single-family homes, all priced under $200,000. Amenities include awsome views, walking trails, and a clubhouse with a hot tub and exercise facility.

Then there is Hunter’s Run Townhomes, with affordable 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom townhomes in the Green River valley. The spaces have customizable interiors with such options as granite countertops and hardwood floors, 2-car garages, and plans for RV parking, a community rec room and a dog park.

Hanks is glad to see apartments and townhomes amongst the houses, which were the subject of bidding wars not too long ago. As Rock Springs and the surrounding area continues to grow, a broader range of affordable housing will be in order.

“That will provide a lot of options for people who can’t afford houses – young couples, individuals, people who aren’t interested in the long haul or they don’t know yet,” he says. “It really is a niche that we need.

“The complexion of the housing situation has changed here. You still get the argument, ‘what’s affordable housing.’ The change is reflective of what’s going on nationally, too. We’re kind of in the same boat as everybody. But we’ve weathered the storm better than most.”