S. Oregon Real Estate Forum for June 6, 2018
Hello Friends……
FAIR HOUSING TURNS 50, Still Relevant Today!
We take so many things for granted in real estate today. Discrimination in housing in the USA was transformed by the Fair Housing Act which made it illegal to deny housing to anyone based on race, religion, family status or age. This lead to the American With Disabilities Act and to the Fair Credit Act which leveled the real estate housing playing field for everyone.
Rick Harris, shares why the Fair Housing Act remains important in 2018. Harris, is Past President of OAR and RVAR and is a continuing education instructor with RVAR. His insights will make you understand past practices and what it means today for buyers, sellers, landlords and renters. The show can be found at www.realestateshoworegon.com
LAST WEEK SALES REPORT, THE MARKET IS TALKING
Overall numbers break down like this for Jackson County.
NEW LISTINGS: 116
Price Range: $118K on S. Stage Rd, to $6M, Rusty Spur Ranch in Talent
PENDING SALES: 123
Price Range: $135K at 135 Sunset W Medford to $1.95M at 3317 Taylor Rd in CP
CLOSED SALES: 89
Price Range $90K at Maple St in W Medford to $830K at 150 Susan St. in Ashland.
Key Box Activity, which is realtors opening key boxes to show properties increased 20% in May 2018 over May 201.
a total of 10,443 key boxes were opened showing an uptick in showings as inventory has grown by 13% overall.
1. Mortgage Interest Rates are at a 7 year high. Conventional 30 year mortgages, depending on credit scores ranges from 4.6% to 5.7%. VA and USDA and FHA a bit lower.2. The City of Medford last week approved adding 4,400 acres of land into the city’s Urban Growth Boundary over the next 50 years. That may seem like a long time but it also spells out where Medford will grow. It takes years to develop too so don’t expect this land to be developed anytime soon. It’s mostly on the East and NE sides of Medford.
3. Inventories have grown. Josephine County has 37% more listings than a year ago or 550 of them. In Jackson County listings are up just 14%. In both cases there is more available inventory.
4. New construction continues at a solid pace in Jackson County with 82 new homes sold in the previous three months. In Josephine County, only six new homes were sold. That pace is not keeping up with demand for housing in the Grants Pass area putting pressure on pricing. Why isn’t there more new construction going on in River City? Can someone answer that question.
HERE ARE THE LATEST MLS STATS MARCH THROUGH MAY 2018
Fascinating to read. Check price changes from a year ago and median price. Rural properties are sure seeing a slow down in both number of properties and price. This tells the story of the market right now.