Good Monday Morning! December of 2024 saw some slight improvements in the Lane County housing market. Overall, 2024 also saw a slight market improvement over 2023. However, the part of the housing market that has not improved is the inventory of homes on the market for sale. December 2024 saw 2.5 months of inventory, which is very low. Remember, a healthy market would see 4.5 to 6 months of inventory. The fact that home sales have improved in December may be a good sign that the housing market is going to improve in 2025. December saw a 20% increase in pending home sales nationally, which is a ..read more

Good Monday Morning! The United States housing market has been plagued with an extremely low inventory of homes for sale for several years. Much of this situation has been caused by the rise in mortgage interest rates. As a nation, homeowners were spoiled for years with mortgage interest rates on their current homes that ranged from 2.5% to 3.5%. The inventory issue has been primarily created by homeowners reluctance to abandon these exceptionally low interest rates and move to another home purchase with rates that may be double or more than their interest rate on a current home. This lack of ..read more

Good Monday Morning! There is certainly some good news for home buyers and home sellers to end a dismal 2024 housing market. Home sale activity has picked up substantially nationwide as the number of pending sales has suddenly increased significantly. This should lead to a major increase in home sales next month. This may also indicate some great news for the 2025 national housing market. The following is a new report out of "NAR". Real estate professionals are drafting more purchase contracts as pending home sales surge to a 21-month high. Read more from NAR’s latest housing report. After hom ..read more

Good Monday Morning!  Despite the Fed's rate cuts, mortgage interest rates remain stagnant. There is much more that affects mortgage interest rate levels than just what the Fed does. Mortgage rates are affected by our huge national debt, the overall economy, and a variety of other factors. The 30-year average for mortgage rates is around 8.5%, and we have experienced some really great housing markets with rates higher than they are today. There are other factors that affect our national housing market as much or even more than interest rates. The overall inventory of homes for sale, infla ..read more

Good Monday Morning! When the Fed took action a week ago and lowered their rates by 1/2 of a point, it gave hope to potential home buyers that maybe we could be on the path to more affordable housing. This could be true, but watch out. Part of our issue is not the current mortgage rates but the lack of housing inventory nationally. We are in a strange market that is following a long period of time where mortgage interest rates were historically low. Now that this period of time has ended, homeowners are reluctant to sell their homes that they either purchased or refinanced at those low 2.5% to ..read more

Good Monday Morning! Will 2025 bring in an improved housing market with greater affordability for buyers? The economists at the National Association of Realtors believe that this will take place. They are forecasting an improved housing market with slightly lower mortgage interest rates, slower gains with home prices, and a larger inventory of homes. If the past is repeated, our nation does not climb out of a housing crisis quickly. We have always had slow but steady improvements. If NAR economists are correct, it looks like this trend will repeat, and that is great ne ..read more

Good Monday Morning! There are no major changes within the Eugene and Springfield area Real Estate market. Our local market remains fairly flat with some ups and downs but remains a strong sellers market with a very low inventory of homes on the market. Mortgage interest rates have improved some but continue to hover in that area of 6.5% to 7% for 30 year conventional financing. The price of homes for sale continues to increase, as it has for a long time now.  This trend is somewhat alarming because it continues to make homes in our area less affordable. For this current market to improve ..read more

Good Monday Morning! There is some positive news with home sales nationally. Pending home sales, which are used as a measure of trends with home purchases, have increased nationally. Of course, this could just be a temporary blip, but if this trend continues into December and we start to see an increase in home sales, it could signal a potential upturn in the national housing market. The following is a recent article from "Realtor.com". – Pending home sales ascended in October – the third consecutive month of increases – according to the National Association of REALTORS®. All four major U.S. r ..read more

Good Monday Morning! If you are considering the sale of your Eugene or Springfield area home and hoping that a rich out-of-state buyer comes along, this may be wishful thinking! According to NAR statistics, Oregon didn't even enter into the the top states that people are relocating to. Just a few years ago this was not the situation, as Oregon saw people by the thousands relocating to our state from California and many other states, including the East Coast. That trend seems to have made a change, and it could have a profound effect on our housing market. Whether this is good or bad, fewer out ..read more

Good Monday Morning! Are you considering the sale of your personal home or investment property? If so, knowing the current market value of your home or property is an essential part of the sales process. Just looking at your home's tax evaluation can be misleading at best. The county does not change values often, and market shifts are certainly not a part of your property tax evaluation. Also, national online home value sites are not always reliable sources either. Knowing the city and neighborhoods and knowing the market trends for each specific area is a crucial part of an accurate look into ..read more