Bulletin E-Edition:
Area home sales, prices mostly down
March prices are up in Bend; quarterly prices drop 12.5%
By Andrew Moore / The Bulletin
Published: April 08. 2009 4:00AM PST
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The median sales price for a single-family home in Bend rose in March to $221,000, an increase of 2.79 percent from February but off more than 25 percent from March 2008, according to a local real estate analysis released Tuesday.
On a quarterly basis, the median sales price in Bend was down 12.55 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008 and down 27.6 percent from the first quarter of 2008, according to the Bratton Report.
Produced by the Bend-based Bratton Appraisal Group, the report also showed that single-family home sales in Bend in March rose to 89, an increase of 37 percent compared with 65 sales in February but down 4 percent from March 2008.
On a quarterly basis, single-family home sales in Bend dropped nearly 11 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008 and 1.33 percent compared with first-quarter 2008.
Still, some find the recent data encouraging.
“Those are good indicators,” Barbara Myers, president of the Central Oregon Association of Realtors, said of the March data.
Myers said the March increases are ahead of the traditional spring bounce seen every year and that she and other association members are reporting more sales interest and activity.
“They’re not drastic changes, but they’re still an increase, which I think is encouraging,” she added.
Myers noted tthat sales have likely been spurred by government incentives, such as an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and historically low mortgage interest rates, which averaged 4.78 percent last week for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac.
Sales price per square foot, a metric real estate professionals consider the most accurate assessment of a home’s worth, rose slightly in March to $110, an increase of just less than 1 percent compared with February but a drop of nearly 31 percent compared with March 2008.
The report analyzes single-family home sales only and does not include sales of townhomes, condos or homes with acreage.
The March Bratton Report follows other real estate reports that show an increase in home sales in 2009.
Last month, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes nationally rose 5.1 percent in February compared with January, though sales remained soft compared with February 2008.
In Jackson County, home to Medford and Ashland, sales of existing homes rose 13.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service, the Mail Tribune reported Tuesday.
In Redmond, the median sales price for a single-family home fell slightly in March to $175,000, a decrease of 1.33 percent compared with February 2009 and a decrease of more than 22 percent compared with March 2008.
Quarterly, the median sales price of a single-family home in Redmond in the first quarter of 2009 dropped 14.14 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 22.37 percent from first-quarter 2008.
Sales in Redmond in March rose to 32, an increase of 33 percent compared with 24 sales in February, but were down close to 22 percent from the 41 sales recorded in March 2008.
The sales price per square foot in Redmond in March rose to $92, an increase of 4.55 percent compared with $88 reported in February 2009 but a decrease of nearly 26 percent compared with the $124 in March 2008.
In other Central Oregon markets, only quarterly data is available.
In Sisters, the median sales price in the year’s first quarter dropped to $247,000 on 11 sales, a decrease of 23.29 percent compared with a median sales price of $322,000 on sales of 10 homes in the fourth quarter of 2008.
La Pine saw its median sales price in the first quarter drop to $127,000 on sales of eight homes, a decrease of 2.31 percent compared with a median sales price of $130,000 on sales of 13 homes in fourth-quarter 2008.
In Sunriver, the median sales price in the first quarter of 2009 dropped to $513,000 on 18 home sales, a decrease of 10.78 percent compared with a median sales price of $575,000 on sales of 17 homes in fourth-quarter 2008.
Jefferson County and Crooked River Ranch collectively saw their median sales prices decrease to $100,000 in the first quarter of 2009, a drop of 13.04 percent compared with the fourth quarter 2008 median sales price of $115,000 based on 20 home sales.
In Crook County, the median sales price in the first quarter of 2009 dropped to $124,000 on sales of 17 homes, a drop of 4.62 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 median sales price of $130,000 based on 21 home sales.
Since at least 1969, home sales have increased before the end of every recession, whereas unemployment has peaked after each recession, according to the “Economic and Real Estate Trends” report released April 1 by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.
According to the report, this recession may turn out to be different, as the increasing number of vacant homes on the market means fewer new homes will be built and it may take some time for demand to catch up to supply.
Citing this and other data, the report forecasts national home sales will modestly rebound in the third quarter of 2009. But home prices could continue to decline in some parts of the country — including Deschutes County — before stabilizing in 2010, according to the report.
Foreclosure activity continues at a record pace in Deschutes County. A total of 827 notices of default, a legal document that initiates foreclosure proceedings, were filed in the county in the first three months of the year, an increase of more than 32 percent compared with the last three months of 2008, and a jump of more than 156 percent from the first quarter of 2008.
Myers guesses this summer will see an increase in sales activity, just not at a blistering pace.
“I think we’ll keep going on the way we are, no huge increases, just baby steps,” said Myers. “Rates are so low, and banks are offering deals on properties they hold the notes on, so all that stuff adds up to good news.”
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