The Southern Oregon real estate market here is definitely getting better, and that’s good news, but the truth is it couldn’t have gotten any worse. At the peak of our market in 2005, we were averaging about 135-140 home sales a month compared with the bottom of the market when we were selling around 55 to 65 homes per month. In today’s market, we are now averaging about 80 to 85 sales per month. The median price at the market’s peak in 2005 averaged about $260,000 per month while today the median price is now in the $170K range.

Fortunately, amid all of highs and lows in the Southern Oregon real estate market, prices have finally stabilized, and in a recent conversation with an Appraiser, I was informed that prices have been holding steady since the end of the second quarter of this year with some slight price improvement. Both the Appraiser and myself expect that statistical improvement to disappear as we enter our seasonal slow down. We usually see sales off by as much as 50% in the month of December but we expect an early pick up in the spring as buyers take advantage of the homebuyer’s tax credits that expires in March.

Now the bad news: Continue reading End-of-the year Report for the Grants Pass and Southern Oregon Real Estate

These days, sellers in Grants Pass all seem to be asking the same question. Has the Grants Pass housing recovery started yet? They ask this question because for a lot of sellers in the Southern Oregon real estate market, they’d love to sell their home for a fair price and move forward with other life choices, like relocating for a better job or moving into larger or smaller digs. Unfortunately, the answer continues to be “maybe.”

Statistically, after three years of intense price declines, the nationwide recovery for the housing sector appears to have begun. The Case-Shiller housing index for the top twenty cities in America reported Continue reading The Grants Pass Housing Recovery and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

I’ve been blogging for months now about the Southern Oregon housing market recovery by focusing on Grants Pass real estate and Medford real estate, as well as homes throughout the rest of the country. Now there is evidence both from my personal sales in the Southern Oregon real estate market and from the Case Shiller home price index that we’ve finally turned a corner.

It seems that 15 of the top 20 markets in the country have seen either price increases or no declines at all for the month of May. In some of my previous blogs, I wrote that the bottom of the housing market was June 2009. Interestingly, Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money feels the same way. Admittedly, we’ve all been wrong before but on his July 28th show Jim told his viewers that those who wait for evidence of a turnaround in the housing or stock markets will be missing out on the great buying opportunities.

Now, to be fair, Jim actually called the bottom of the market in Continue reading Grants Pass Real Estate, Medford Real Estate, and the Southern Oregon Housing Market Recovery

150 years ago the State of Oregon joined the United States of America and beginning in the early 1880’s, Grants Pass began to grow as a community. Today, the Josephine County Historical Society keeps track of Grants Pass history, both past and present.

When visitors arrive by car and approach Grants Pass from the north I-5 exit, they are greeted by a towering 18 foot tall statue of the Grants Pass mascot, the Caveman, seen pictured as part of this blog. Often those from out-of-town searching for Southern Oregon real estate wonder about the Caveman and his history.

In the early 1900’s, perhaps because of the influence of the nearby historic Oregon Caves in Cave Junction or perhaps because of Continue reading The Grants Pass Caveman and Southern Oregon Real Estate

As a specialist in Grants Pass real estate within the Southern Oregon real estate market, I am well aware of the distress many home owners currently feel regarding the significant drop in real estate market prices, both locally and nationally. I am writing these words to assure readers that the wealth of the American family will continue to be provided by the ownership of real estate, be it ownership right here in Grants Pass real estate, in the Southern Oregon real estate market, or nationwide.

Here’s why the recovery is working all across America. Yes, the wheels of recovery have been slow to turn because they found themselves at a dead stop, churning to free us from the worse financial mud hole since the Great Depression. But consider this Continue reading Grants Pass Real Estate and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

As many of you already know, the Southern Oregon real estate market is dependent on the California real estate market for much of its activity. In Grants Pass and Medford, California has always been regarded as their largest “feeder” market, driven by Baby Boomers seeking retirement.

So when sales in California began to tank back in 2006, the Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon real estate markets tanked right along with them. Now comes the latest news regarding the recovery of the California real estate market.

Sales statistics indicate that California may finally be coming out of its economic tailspin. Statistics show that Continue reading The Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon Real Estate Market Recovery and the California Real Estate Market

The economic indicators for national and local real estate markets are mixed these days. At the national level for January, 2009, home prices plunged by 19% from a year ago in 20 of the largest cities in America. However, while the Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon real estate markets have experienced a drop in prices compared with prices from a year ago, the price drops have not been nearly as severe as in the large metropolitan areas.

The price drops for both the national and the local markets are directly related to the inflated inventory of foreclosures, unsold homes, and the forces of supply and demand. Meanwhile, over the last 2 months, applications for refinancing have surged, and for the month of February, the number of pending sales nationwide is up compared with a year ago.

These mixed statistical messages suggest Continue reading The Latest Economic Indicators for the Grants Pass, Medford and Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

I’ve been selling Southern Oregon real estate now for nearly 30 years. Over that span of time I’ve been asked to list and sell many businesses and companies here in the Grants Pass and Medford areas. The first question I inevitably ask is “Are you making money?”

If a company is for sale and it is not turning a profit the next questions are always “Then what are we selling and why should anyone buy it?” Consider the obvious —-everyone wants to sell their business when it’s not profitable. That’s a lot easier choice than staying in it and restructuring to get it in the black. I always tell my clients that If you have a business enterprise that is not turning a profit or if it is making a profit that is about what you would be paid if you had a job doing the same thing then forget about selling it —- Liquidate it! That’s tough advice but the truth is a lot easier than giving someone the false hope of an entitlement to money that they’re never going to receive.

No matter where you live, if you ever find yourself in such a situation then you’ll have the same easy choice to liquidate, take your losses and go do something else, or the more difficult choice of staying in and restructuring. That may mean borrowing some money and then reinventing your company to make it profitable. I’ve seen the previous scenario play itself out dozens of times over the years in my Grants Pass real estate business, and with my social conscience I find it a lot easier to tell someone that their business is really no more than a pool of assets costing them money to run every month.

I always recommend that they go back to the basics and get their flawed business model repaired and made profitable. It then becomes very simple to sell a business that’s making money. At that point most don’t want to sell except for retirement. I want to draw a comparison here between unsuccessful businesses with flawed or outdated business models and our current economic situation here in America.

Not so long ago, we were the economic engine of the world. We were the envy of all other countries for our modern business practices, our progressive labor laws, and our tax structure. In short, we did almost everything right and as a result Continue reading Selling Southern Oregon, Restructering America, and a Return to Economic Prosperity, Part I

Here’s an update on home sales, foreclosures, and short sales in Grants Pass, Medford, and the Southern Oregon real estate market. The real estate market in Southern Oregon is traditionally slow during the winter months and this winter was no exception. After a brief flurry of sales in December and January when the 30 year mortgage rates dipped for a time to the low 4% range, sales in Grants Pass and Southern Oregon slowed to a rate seen in past recessions which is about half the amount seen during the housing bubble. Overall, prices have dropped an average of 25% or more since the peak year of 2005. Sales in the Southern Oregon real estate market are slow in all price ranges and types of properties. The two bright spots in sales numbers are short sales and foreclosures and statistics bear that out.

Of all the homes sold in Josephine County between December 1, 2008, through Feb. 27, 2009, 131 of the closed sales were single-family homes. Of these, 66 were either short sales or foreclosures. This number represents 50% of all sales and is actually a lower percentage of sales than we have seen of late. Some of the factors behind the drop in foreclosures and short sales may be because of the moratorium that was placed on foreclosures and evictions by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Countrywide, Bank of America, and Citibank. This moratorium on foreclosures and evictions Continue reading Home Sales, Foreclosures, and Short Sales for Grants Pass, Medford, and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

In my last blog, we defined toxic assets of banks. This blog will focus on derivatives. Simply defined, derivatives are financial instruments comprised of mortgages that have been bundled together and typically sold Over-The-Counter to customers worldwide, from Southern Oregon to Europe to the Middle East. During the height of the real estate feeding frenzy, derivatives where bought and sold with little or no regulation to banks, hedge funds and other sophisticated entities. Behind the policy of “no regulation” was the belief that the buyers of derivatives were sophisticated investors aware of the risks and complications inherent to a financial instrument of this caliber. Billions in bundled mortgages circulated the globe as investors chased supposedly secure investments in the rising real estate markets of California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and yes, Southern Oregon, including Grants Pass. And throughout this period, you can bet there were some Wall Street traders making a bundle over the bundling, knowing that their tracks would be covered by complexity. When the party came to an end and the real estate market began to fall, the derivates took a nose dive. Since then, derivatives have becoming perhaps the most perplexing challenge for economic recovery. And that is because no one knows whether these bundled mortgages represent a beautiful new home Grants Pass or a boarded up shanty in flood damaged New Orleans. Continue reading DERIVATIVES, TOXIC ASSETS, AND THE SOUTHERN OREGON REAL ESTATE MARKET, Part 2