An Update on Our Lane County Market

What’s going on in our Lane County real estate market as we approach fall? Let’s find out.

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As we approach the fall, many of you are likely wondering what’s going on in our Lane County real estate market. Of course, if you’re anything like me, the coming autumn also means you’ve got something else on your mind: football season.

Believe it or not, these two things are actually somewhat related. This is because when football season arrives, buyers tend to have fewer opportunities to attend open houses.

That aside, let’s take a look at the market itself.

Inventory has increased from the all-time low we saw in March, when there were just 42 days of supply. Now, supply is up to 54 days’ worth of homes. This means if no new homes came on to our market, it would take just 54 days for Lane County to run out of listings.

This puts sellers in the driver's seat. In fact, we would need about 180 days’ worth of supply for buyers and sellers to be on equal ground in our market.

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Sellers are in the driver’s seat, but it’s still a great time to buy.

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As far as median price, we’ve seen a growth of 9% since this time last year, leaving us with a current median price of approximately $272,000. This increase in price is part of a larger upward trend that we’ve been seeing for the past four years. So when will this rapid growth end?

With the number of millennial homebuyers continuing to increase, and interest rates still rising, as well, experts are divided on when we can expect the market to level out. With that in mind, though, the appreciation of home values is expected to slow down to a rate of 3% or 4% in the near future.

The bottom line is this: It is still a great time to buy. So if you want to know how to navigate your specific market, please reach out.

As always, if you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Is Lane County Still in a Seller’s Market?

Lane County is still in a seller’s market, but the right time for buyers to buy is now.

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As you know, we’ve been in a seller’s market for quite some time in Lane County, and according to the latest reports, we basically still are.

680 new listings came on the market last month, which is a good sign. Still, we can’t say inventory is rising, because we also had 519 new properties close and 524 go under contract.

We’re still at about two months of inventory. To put that into perspective, the normal level of inventory for Lane County is six months. This means that if no new homes came on the market starting now, we’d be completely out of homes to sell in two months.

Our market is still strong and will be for the next couple years.

The median home price has risen a little over 10% from $230,000 to $254,000 in the past 12 months.

Buyers shouldn’t look at these numbers and consider this a bad situation, though, because the market continues to rise and interest rates are still low. If you were to put off buying for a year, the same homes available now would cost 10% more to buy. In other words, the sooner you buy, the better off you’ll probably be.

In summation, we’re in a strong market, and it will continue to be a strong market for the next couple years. If you have any questions about our market or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you!

A Market Update & a Valentine’s Day Surprise

I’m here today with a musical real estate market update. I’ll go over the latest trends and explain how you can surprise your loved ones with a singing Valentine this year.

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How is our February real estate market doing so far?

So far, Eugene home prices are still inching upwards. However, inventory remains very low at 1.7 months. That is not good news for buyers; they need more listings to choose from! If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is a great time to get on the market.

Now, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Many of you may know that I am part of a quartet called Social Insecurity with the Cascade Chorus. Cascade Chorus will provide many singing Valentines over the next couple of weeks.

Reserve your singing Valentine and surprise your significant other!

Basically, a quartet will go to your significant other’s office and sing a couple of ballads to them. This only costs $45, so call 541-607-6937 to reserve your Valentine and surprise your significant other.

Check out the video above for a quick sample of a singing Valentine. In the meantime, if you have any real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

What's in Store for Real Estate in 2017?

It's nearly year's end, so I wanted to drop by with some predictions for the real estate world in 2017. Experts are predicting the market will stay hot nationwide, and I think Eugene will do the same.

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Christmas and New Year’s are right around the corner, so it's time to make some predictions for the real estate world in 2017.

First of all, let's look at things from a national point of view. As a country, we had about 5.8 million sales, and next year, it's projected to go up to about 6 million sales. Why the increase? Remember, we have a lot of people in Generation Y (mid-30s and down) making their way into the market as buyers. A lot of people think that the Gen-Y buyers will keep the real estate market hot all the way up through 2020!

Generation Y is expected to keep the national market hot through 2020.

Here in Lane County, we had an increase in sales of about 7% in 2016. In 2017, they are predicted to be about the same. One of the reasons the Eugene market is so hot is because Portland is one of the four hottest cities in the U.S. for real estate growth. We're seeing some fallout from that.

With that, let me wish you a wonderful Christmas and holiday season! If you have any questions, always feel free to call or email me. I'll see you soon!

Lane County September Market Update

Today I’ll compare the latest numbers from the September 2016 market to the September 2015 market. All in all, our market continues to be strong.

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What happened this last September in the Lane County real estate market?

Long story short, the market has stayed about the same in terms of home inventory. We still only have about two months of inventory in our market.

Our real estate market is still on fire!

That said, home values have changed since September of last year. Check out the complete breakdown here:

• Hayden Bridge is up 3.7%
• McKenzie Valley went down 5.1%
• Pleasant Hill went up 10%
• South Lane went up 6.2%
• West Lane only went up 0.9%
• Junction City went down 1.1%
• Thurston is up 4.1%
• Coburg is up 44.2%. Of course, not every house in Coburg appreciated that much. However, since there weren’t many home sales in that area, that is what the statistics show.
• North Gilham went down 4%
• Ferry St. Bridge is up 6.7%
• Southwest Eugene is up 9.8%
• East Eugene is up 13.8%
• West Eugene is up 12.3%
• Danebo takes the prize by being up 18.5%
• River Road is up 8.1%
• Santa Clara is up 5.1%
• Springfield is up 5.4%
• Mohawk Valley is down 0.1%, so that market has plateaued.

The bottom line is our real estate market is still very hot. If you have further questions about our current real estate market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

July Market Snapshot for Eugene Real Estate

I wanted to take a moment to talk about some numbers in Lane County. We all know that the market has gone up, so I took a look at how the market has changed since last July over that one-year period.

Here is how much each area has changed:

• Santa Clara - 3.6%
• River Road - 7.7%
• East Eugene - 3.7%
• Southwest Eugene - 5.5%
• West Eugene - 7.5%
• Danebo 9.7%
• North Gilham - minus-4.5%
• Ferry St. Bridge - 6.7%
• Coburg - 23.6%
• Venita/Elmira - 8.6%
• Junction City - minus-2.9%
• Cottage Grove Creswell - 8.6%
• Pleasant Hill - minus-.6%
• Thurston - 4.4%
• Hayden Bridge - 7.2%
• Springfield - 8.2%
• Mohawk Valley - minus-12.5%
• McKenzie Valley - 1.5%

All in all, we've gone up almost 10% throughout the entire year. We'll be back next month with a new report for you. In the meantime, if you have any questions or you're thinking about buying or selling a home, give me a call or send me an email and we'll talk soon!

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We're up 10% over the year as a whole.

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How to Capitalize on the Eugene Real Estate Market

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Today we’ll be doing a little update on the Lane County real estate market from the beginning of 2016 up until right now. What you will notice is that some areas have seen plenty of appreciation, while other neighborhoods are lagging.

• Hayden Bridge has seen home values rise by 5.9%
• Springfield has seen an appreciation of 4.4%
• Mohawk Valley has actually fallen by 18.8% (only a few properties have sold, this is why this number is so extreme)
• Home values in Thurston have risen by 5.3%
• Coburg homes have gained 6.7% in value since the beginning of the year
• South Lane has appreciated by 9.9%
• Pleasant Hill is up by 1.5%
• Junction City home values have fallen by 4.5%
• West Lane homes have seen values increase by 5.7%
• Ferry St. Bridge has increased by 3.8%
• North Gilham home values have fallen by 2.5%
• South Eugene values have risen by 0.6%
• East Eugene values have risen by 1%
• Danebo homes have increased in value by 7.1%
• River Road home values have spiked by 9.7% since the beginning of the year
• Santa Clara values have risen by 2.8%
• The TOTAL AVERAGE for Lane County is an appreciation of 3.5% since 2016

As you can see, these numbers are all very different. Real estate is hyperlocal and conditions can change from neighborhood to neighborhood. If you want more accurate information, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

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Real estate conditions can change from neighborhood to neighborhood.

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Lastly, I want to give you the opportunity to suggest some questions or topic ideas for me. I want to teach what you want to learn about. Simply give me a call and I will address your question via a video blog.

I look forward to continuing this conversation!

Don’t Miss this Expert Analysis of Lane County Real Estate

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Today we’re going to take a look at what happened with real estate in Eugene this past year. Overall, I think we’re heading into a busy market that will cater to both buyers and sellers.

Our average days on market in December was 68, and that has not changed a lot since then. It’s right at 71 days now, and we have about three months of inventory. This puts us in a market that’s favoring home sellers, so if you’ve been thinking about buying, now is the time to do so.

Our average sale price is increasing as well. It’s at $240,000 right now, so this is great news for homeowners and potential home buyers.

I would advise you to get into this market early before interest rates rise and people flood the spring market. You have a great opportunity to buy a home affordably.

Also, be sure to ask about my new book, Moving Forward: 25 Essential Rules to Buying and Selling Real Estate without Going Crazy.

Ask me about receiving a copy if you’re interested!

What Are the Pros and Cons of Homeownership?

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There are advantages and disadvantages of homeownership. Today, we take a look at both.

Disadvantages of homeownership:

• The potential for the value of the home to go down. I've only seen this happen twice in my lifetime: once in the early '80s and again between 2006-2009.

• Maintenance costs. This could be anything from roofing to water heater issues to painting, among many other things. You can imagine all the things that could go wrong that you would have to pay people.

• Flexibility. When you own a home and you have job changes, especially when you move from town to town, it can be costly and difficult to sell your home.

Advantages of homeownership: 

• Personal freedom and pride of ownership. You can do anything you want to your home, within reason. You can't paint your home any way you wish and remodel, if you so desire, without having to ask permission.

• Sense of stability. You know you are not going to be moving often and it gives you a sense of security.

• Wealth building. You have the ability to gain value in your home every single year. As you pay down your mortgage, you build equity in your home. The other big picture is, most of the time, your home appreciates in value! This will give a certain amount of financial freedom in the future -- it will allow you to finance college, retirement, or handle financial hardships you may encounter down the road.

• Tax breaks. You get to use your interest and your taxes that you pay each year to deduct from your income taxes at the end of the year. You don't get to do that when renting a home.

If you have any questions about home-ownership, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

Where Is the Lane County Market Heading?

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We’re always asked, “Are we in a buyer’s or seller’s market?” Well, today, we experience a shift towards the seller’s favor from low inventory. We currently have about three months worth of inventory for sale.

This year, home sales were up 31% compared to last year, which has lessened inventory significantly.

Additionally, the average sales price also increased 3%. We have an average sales price of $244,000 compared to last year’s $235,000.

The average time on the market has decreased from 86 days to 71, so homes are flying off the market!

We’re expecting a similar market in 2016. The experts credit the improving economy to consumer optimism.

However, interest rates are still unpredictable! Recently, we experienced a quarter of a perfect increase in October’s interest rates. This continued low rate remains a home run for buyers and sellers in the near future.