Eugene and Springfield Oregon Real Estate Update

Does a change in mortgage interest rates have an effect on home sales? You bet it does! Inflation in home prices over the past several years has made home ownership an impossibility for many would be home buyers. The high cost of homes was compensated for over the past years by record breaking low mortgage interest rates. When rates began to rise but home prices remained steady and even increased, the ability to purchase a home for many faded away. Even though mortgage rates are higher than they were even a year ago, they have dropped from their peak in the Fall of 2023. Even a 1% rate decrease has spurred interest and made home payments more affordable. The question we have is whether rates will decline further, hold steady, or maybe even rise again. The answer here depends on what happens with our national economy. Mortgage rates need to decline further to heat up our economy again, but this could bring back high inflation rates. Higher inflation rates could put the brakes on any...

    Both Pending and Closed sales have continued to decline both nationally and here in the Eugene Springfield area. We are now in 2024 and what will the national and local housing market be like this year? There is some light coming through this tough Real Estate market as we have watched mortgage interest rates decline slightly. The forecast is that rates will continue to decline over the next several months. If rates do decline, then look for both pending and closed home sales to do an about-face and begin to bounce back. The rate and amount of any recovery here will depend upon the extent of the mortgage rate reductions. I will keep you updated as we move forward. The following is a short article from "Realtor.com".   The numbers:  Pending home sales were flat in November compared with the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).   The Pending Home Sales Index remain...

  Here we are in early 2024 and has anything really changed with the housing market, both here in the Eugene and Springfield area and nationally? The answer is a flat, NO! But, I believe we are on the edge of change and it could start showing more in the next few months if the prediction of falling mortgage interest rates become reality. This will be very positive, but there is a black cloud hanging over all national housing markets. That black cloud is inflation. Even with a slower market, home prices have continued to increase and with a faster paced market potentially on  the horizon, it could fuel inflation in home prices even further. Typically, when we see a slower market with less demand, we see home prices decline and in our current market, we should have seen sharp declines in home prices. This just has not been the case. The issue here is that rising home ...

  Overall, home sales in Lane County were off in December of 2023. A sluggish housing market remained in place, even with slightly lower mortgage interest rates. We saw a short spurt of activity in early December fade as we approached the Holidays. What will 2024 bring? There is a potential for a much improved housing market in Lane County if mortgage interest rates decline further and the Fed remains steady or even drops rates. This is an unknown presently and only time will tell. The overall economy needs to improve as well and inflation numbers need to decline. Without all of these pieces falling in place, don’t look for any substantial changes in our local housing market. The following is a look at home sales in Lane County for December 2023.   New Listings   New listings (177) increased 1.1% from the 175 listed in December 2022, and decreased 4...