Eugene and Springfield Oregon Real Estate Update

The national Real Estate world was full of facts and non-facts in regards to the recent NAR settlement over brokerage fees. I am doing this article this morning because many clients have had questions over what is going on, and home buyers have been in fear that they will now have to pay fees that they did not have to pay previously in a Real Estate transaction. The truth is that, yes, there will be some changes coming soon, but the overall picture of how we buy and sell Real Estate will change very little for most home sellers and home buyers. This is an ever-changing situation, so there could be some further developments ahead, but as of right now, it is pretty much business as usual. Here is a recent article from "Realtor.com" that briefly goes over the recent decisions. Misinformation has been pervasive in the media over real estate commissions. Here are the facts you should know. The national conversation around real estate commissions reached a crescendo in the la...

At the beginning of this year, national financial experts were mostly in agreement that the Fed would go through a series of interest rates drops in 2024. They thought that with inflation numbers predicted to decline, the Fed would need to do this to get the economy back on track. So far, the Fed has failed to drop rates and has even made it look as if a rate decline program is not in the picture any time soon. Recent unfavorable inflation rates could be putting a stranglehold on Fed rates declining any time soon. With that reality, mortgage interest rates remain around the 7% mark. This is a lower level than a year ago, but this rate remains higher than what many home buyers feel they want to deal with. Many would-be buyers are sitting and waiting for mortgage interest rates to drop, but is that the best route? The following article from "US News" talks about the best direction for home buyers to take. It's been two years since the Federal Reserve first began its ti...

February of this year saw closed home sales and pending sales tick upwards in the Eugene and Springfield area.  Could this be seasonal, or is it a long-term positive sign for our local Real Estate market? Mortgage interest rates remain just below the 7% mark, which is up from this time last year but about a percentage point below several months ago. The overall economy remains about the same, but inflation continues, but at a slower pace than last year. The hope is that the Fed will lower rates at their next meeting. Slightly lower rates could give our Spring housing market a boost. We remain in a volatile housing market, and it is just tough to determine exactly where it is headed. The inventory of homes remains low, and my advice to anyone thinking of selling a home this year is to not wait. Right now, we seem to have more home buyers than we have home listings in our market. My suggestion would be to take advantage of this. The following are the home sales statistics for Lan...

Mortgage interest rates have gone up recently, but they are remaining below the highs in late 2023. There is a silver lining to this trend, though. With rates up slightly, demand for housing is down, and home inventories are beginning to creep higher. With more competition and less demand, home owners trying to sell their homes are becoming more motivated. This is something that we have not seen take place in our local Eugene and Springfield housing market for years. The recent tick-up in mortgage rates is not enough to have a large effect on payments, but is it enough to have an effect on what you might have to pay for a home? The other side of this is that there are simply more homes to choose from. For many interested home buyers, this is a great time to jump back into the market and start looking at homes. The following is an update on recent market trends that affect home purchases. Mortgage interest rates rose for a fourth consecutive week, increasing the chances of a challe...