There is good news and bad news for the southern Oregon housing market. First, the good news: Sales volume and prices are up slightly to moderately and days-on-market and number-of-homes for sale are down. All this bodes well for a continuing recovery. Business was fairly brisk for home sales in Grants Pass and the Southern Oregon real estate market in general, and the months of March and April were very good as buyers scrambled to take advantage of the expiration of the home buyers tax credit that ended on April 30th. We had until June 30th to close those contracts and the last week of June we were very busy with closings. The house and senate both passed an extension of time to complete closings for those sales that were hung up and couldn’t meet the June 30th deadline. President Obama is expected to sign it. That’s good because I had a number of sales that were supposed to meet that deadline and couldn’t.

Speaking of short sales, Continue reading Southern Oregon Real Estate Market Update

Homeowners distressed by the housing sector meltdown in the Southern Oregon real estate market can look forward to help from the U.S. Treasury Department in the upcoming months. Last week the Treasury Department unveiled new rules for homeowners nationwide who need to sell but are “underwater” and unable to get a price for their home that would cover the amount owed to their lender. The Treasury Department plan has been created to help those who either don’t have enough income or whose debt levels are too high to allow them to qualify for a loan modification under the multi-billion dollar program known as Making Home Affordable.

When a home in the Southern Oregon real estate market is listed for a price below what is owed to the lender, it falls into the category of a Short Sale, but make no mistakes about it, there is nothing short about it, except for the funds necessary to pay off the loan. However, there are advantages to a short sale; in addition to saving the seller’s credit, short sales save the banks the expense of foreclosure. Short sales also help to solidify neighborhood property valuations because a short sale price is most likely a higher price than what the house will sell for through foreclosure. It is estimated that in 2009, one out of every ten home sales was a short sale, and in some distressed areas like Las Vegas and Sacrament, the ratio is much higher.

Following are the guidelines for qualification for the new Treasury Department assistance: Continue reading Treasury Department Assistance for Short Sales in the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

These days the Southern Oregon real estate market, along with real estate markets across the country, are dominated by short sales and foreclosures. For the past 2 years, real estate experts have continued to predict that until the inventory of short sales and foreclosures diminishes, overall property values will continue to be depressed.

Imagine trying to sell your home by competing on price against short sales or foreclosures. It doesn’t take an expert to predict that the attainable price for a non-distressed property has been driven downward by market conditions, and the Southern Oregon real estate market is no exception to these circumstances.

So what are sellers to do? Continue reading Short Sales, Foreclosures, and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

The Southern Oregon real estate market has seen two consecutive months of increased sales, and while some will say it’s too early to predict recovery, it is safe to say that the real estate market is improving. It also appears that the Homeowner Affordability and Sustainability Plan created and endorsed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury is working. The thrust of this plan is for the Fed to assist banks to modify mortgages in order to stop foreclosures and short sales, and put an end to the devastating effects the inflated inventory of foreclosure properties is having on the housing sector, the U.S. economy, and the global recession.

The goal of the program is to Continue reading Foreclosures, Short Sales, and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

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