Gorgeous views of the entire southwest valley from this knoll top location. 7.88 acres of gently sloping pasture, 2040 sq ft home built in 1993 make this a very special property. The entire south facing portion of home has decking to enjoy the wonderful views and cool afternoon breezes. Water features with Koi to relax you. Great room w/vaulted ceiling and views of the Table Rocks. Nice large kitchen with hardwoods;informal and formal dining areas. Master has hot tub on the deck overlooking the valley lights.

You look out over the south valley all the way to Pilot Rock and Mt Ashland. Your immediate view is of the Table Rocks. Off to the west there is the pastoral view towards Grants Pass. The large country kitchen has hardwoods, tons of storage and a pantry. There is a breakfast nook just off the kitchen with a slider to the deck. The living room windows look to the south and take in the great views. The ceiling is vaulted and there are sliders out to the deck here. The wood stove is certified and the sellers say it is very efficient to use. The master bedroom is large with a large bathroom with a Roman shower.

There is a series of three small ponds that are all tied together and are located just past the deck. The sound of the water rushing between the ponds is soothing and relaxing. The ponds support a thriving Koi population. The seller has planted extensive gardens and has all the plants on drip systems. The area around the house is fully fenced with deer fencing. The property used to have a medical hardship approval which can be reused in the right situation. A buyer could build a shop where the medical hardship used to be as there is a septic and water storage there to service it already. The well is strong and also has a holding tank as the seller loves to garden!

The past two years have shown weak growth in the economy. Although there has been population growth there has been no housing demand growth. Builders incomes have dropped 70-90% and have been constrained by the lack of construction loans. Yun stated that is possible that in 2-3 years there will be a housing shortage due to the lack of new construction. He did state that housing starts are stable; but at a very low level.

According to Yun economists think that the recession ended last summer as we as a nation are beginning to produce more goods. The first signs of new jobs being created are out there. It will likely take more than 4 years to regain the 8 million jobs lost and from 6-8 years for us to recover from this recession. With the over-correction that took place on housing prices it has created a negative psychology among the people. He stated that this over-correction needs to be halted so the collateral damage of negative emotions is stopped. Only then will people begin to jump back into the market. As a rule, people don’t buy homes with cash. Rock bottom interest rates along with rock bottom pricing indicates an over-correction. The economic trenders, Case-Shiller data shows that we are currently at the zero line having returned to ‘normal circumstances’ regarding home
prices and the ability to buy homes by those that live in the area.

Medford has had 10 straight years of job losses while Washington DC has had the same number of years of job growth….likely driven by government jobs he said. He stated that to keep foreign investors confident in our growth we need to have a credible plan to reduce the debt. If they lose their belief in us, rates will likely rise to between 7-9%. The government is trying to chip away at some of our tax deductions for home ownership such as mortgage interest and property tax deductions and having a capital gains tax for all sales. The National Association of Realtors are fighting these on your behalf. It is a proven fact that homeowners perform better in social
standards such as test scores,, juvenile delinquency and other standards. Artificially boosting the ability to be a homeowner is what created the housing bubble that eventually sunk the economy. Yun predicts that the mortgage rates will rise to approximately 6% at about this time next year.

The commercial real estate market follows the housing market by 12-18 months. This market is following the same bubble even though the bubble was not driven by  sub-prime loans. At this time since the loans are not government backed the now-profitable banks don’t want to let go of the money for commercial loans. Look for foreclosures and great prices on commercial sales and leases in the next few years. Fannie Mae has played a huge roll in keeping the interest rate low on home loans. They created a hedge fund that bet on the rise of the housing market which increased their profits. When the housing market crashed, the public took the hit.
NAR is advocating in Washington DC that Fannie Mae would never be allowed to do this again. Take the profits and ask the public to pay for them.

To sum it up Yun said that the increase in stock market activity was indicative of economic action by the wealthy where economists watching the housing market to take the pulse of the middle class. He was cautiously hopeful although the going is much slower than normal in a recovery. Be on the watch for political moves that take away the tax credits for homeowners.

Let me know if I can help you buy or sell your home….I am in it for the long haul!

Well, the numbers are out again for the sales in the area. I have downloaded the whole file so that you can see them all. It appears that some things look promising…the number of ‘normal’ sales which are
the ones that are not bank owned or soon to be bank owned such as a short sale. These seem to be a large number of the sales at first glance. For existing homes they add up to 51% of the sales where REO’s or properties commonly called foreclosures are only 38.8% of the sales.  Click on this link to see the stats in detail. stats may 2010

The most telling number…the short sales. These constitute 10.2% of the sales. When you add up the short sales and the REO’s which are basically transactions controlled by banks, it is approximately 50% of the market. Of properties on the market foreclosures are only 6.6% of the total. That tells me the banks are doing a good job of unloading their properties. In order to unload them they have to price them ‘to move’. What this means is that all other properties are in need of the same kind of pricing. If you want your home to sell or get looked at, the market demands you are at the same price as a foreclosure.

Consumers tend to believe that a foreclosure is a ‘great house at a great deal’. In some cases this is true. Generally a foreclosure is a home in which the seller lost all hope and let it go in more ways that one. They let the yard go, general maintenance on the home, sometimes the home has been stripped of appliances and even fixtures such as cabinets, lights and other removable items. When you purchase a foreclosure, you get what you get.

In a deal I recently closed my buyers got a great price on a house in East Medford. It was a foreclosure and it needed work. After the whole house inspection there were FIFTY items that FHA required to be repaired before the transaction could close. These weren’t minor items either. The buyer ended up having to raise the price of the property to cover the repairs. The repairs ranged from a HVAC system that actually worked, to ducts that weren’t full of water and mold, to a range/oven that turned on, and then a whole host of other repairs including a new shower that wasn’t covered in mold and held together at the drain by duct tape. Fortunately for us the buyers were well connected with contractors and got the whole thing done for an amazingly low price.

As you look at foreclosures, just remember, when the bank says ‘as-is’ that is generally exactly what that means! It appears that the banks are holding a bunch of properties off the market in order to not flood it with foreclosures and thereby driving up home prices a bit as people are competing over the available properties. That does not change the fact that there are whole flood of foreclosures yet to come!

On a final note, the stats show that home prices in our valley have dropped as a whole by 30.2% over the past five years. Talent and West Medford have lost over 40% of their value. It appears the pricing is stabilizing and with the lenders expecting a 1% increase in rates over the next year it might be somewhere close to the bottom in pricing. But then, my crystal ball could be a bit cloudy…..

Great lot for a two-family set-up.  It even backs up to a golf course you have nice views behind you! City planning says a duplex or TWO free-standing homes can be built. You could put on two mobile homes also if you wanted. Site plan/arch review required ($1100). OR CHANGE ZONE to SFR 6, subdivision app, flag lot and get four units. ($710 plus subdivision fees). Check w/Medford planning dept. The house on the property has NO value. It might work for a 203K loan. It will not be removed by the seller. 500 year flood plain no flood insurance required.


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