The number of homes sales went up again last month for the 7th month in a row. The MLS stats show that is a 27% increase from this time last year. This appears to be driven by the lower prices that are bringing investors out of the woodwork again. They are snapping up well-priced single family residences that will make good rentals. The more homes that go into default over the next few years, the more rentals that will be needed for the newly foreclosed folks to live in. A recent article in the paper stated that the rental numbers in the apartments are down however. The article said that the young people that could normally afford an apartment are opting to move back home with their parents.
The other driving force behind the increase in sales as I said was the first-time homebuyer tax credit. It is something that is causing buyers to ‘get off the fence’. Many of the buyers are hoping that they will extend the credit as it is a dog-eat-dog world out there right now when writing offers. I have a buyer that saw a foreclosure house the first day on the market, we got her pre-qualified while were standing in the driveway on the phone with the seller required lender, went back to the office and wrote a great offer. The bank countered her in two minor areas, we accepted and got everything signed and back to them. AFTER we had the acceptance of the offer the lender got other offers in and they pulled the acceptance from us so that they could negotiate with the other buyers too. They said because they ‘hadn’t signed the offer’ they weren’t bound by it. That of course doesn’t sit well as I have never had a bank sign any part of an offer until the final day when it closes. So basically the bank selling properties in foreclosures are setting their own rules and expecting us to ‘play nice’ even when they aren’t. Anyone other than a bank that requirement for a signature would hold true absolutely but the banks never sign anything ‘because they don’t have to.’
We moved on to another property; yes, another foreclosure, and wrote again. This time I drove the other agent nuts demanding to know when the bank considered it accepted and making him prove it in writing. This offer has it’s own quirks. The banks sent papers on legal sized paper. I had the buyer sign them and send them back. They refused to accept them because they were on legal so I had to shrink them down and resend them!! Flexible…you just have to be flexible…don’t let the small stuff drown you and keep moving forward at all times!
During this time of crazy offer writing and negotiations and increased sales the bad news is that prices are still dropping. The median price home dropped again last quarter. The previous median was $190,000 and now it is down to $186,000 as reported by the MLS. That brings the price of homes over the past year down by 19.7% and over the last five year period they are down by 12.8%. Of course there are some areas that have a higher median such as Ashland.
Some of the outlying areas seem to have reversed those trends. Talent over the 5 year trending is actually up 22.6%. That would be accounted for by the fact that all the folks that wished they could afford to live in Ashland have settled in Talent and are willing to pay a higher price for the proximity to that end of the valley. The most surprising one to me is that Shady Cove and Trail is up 32.0%. I am guessing that the reason for this lies with the fact that there have been some new subdivisions created over the past five years that made it possible to have a decent inventory to choose from at more reasonable rates. My guess is that it is driven by a retired and semi-retired population looking for a slower pace of life.
West Medford has been hardest hit by the decline with it being 23.2% over the five years. The greatest amount of change over one year is Jacksonville. It’s decline was 51.4% in one year!!!! Examples of that trend are seen in the properties like the Farms on “G” St in Jacksonville. Marketed at right around the $300,000 range a few years ago they are being built new and selling in the $170,000 range. It used to be that ‘affordable housing’ and Jacksonville were not words you spoke in the same sentence. If you have equity or are interested in investing or are one of those first-time home buyers, it is a really great time to find a buy!
About Jan Garcia
