Time for stats reports...forget going for a massage, manicure, or game of pick up ball at the gym. Real estate market stats are totally exciting! You need to pay attention because there is a test at the end...Here is where our local markets currently stand. Here is what is occurring in the city of Salem in real estate...
Average Sales price:
Well...you may remember me saying in my last quarterly report, that the plateau we were seeing was a possible indicator of stabilization in our market.
Clearly that was presumptuous. I really should have stuck with my original thoughts which was that high inventory was going to finally catch up with us.
There is a normal real estate dip in September due to August being a huge vacation month. From September of last year there has been an 8.5% drop in price. From last month there has been 12.2% drop in the average sold price.
With the financial markets still in flux, I would be surprised if there was a significant bump back up in October.
30 day Absorption Rate/Inventory:
Salem has a current absorption rate of 117. This places the current Salem inventory at 13 months.
Home Sales Closed:
In the 3nd quarter this year, 424 homes closed on the market. That is down 27 % from the same time frame last year when 581 homes closed in the third quarter. Sales volume is still off, and with the current financial markets, I don't see these numbers looking any better.
New Home Construction:
New home sales were even from the same quarter last year. The average new home construction price is $318,310 down 2.7% from the same time frame last year. September home prices dropped 14% in September over August.
Condominiums :
The condo market in Salem continues to be a very small portion of our market. With the Meridian, Riverfront, and Church St condos getting close to completion, those numbers are going to make these numbers go up. All of those condos are in the luxury condo market range. So currently prices are fairly stable, but this chart may look artificially high in the coming months as they sell a few of those condos. Since the sold numbers are so small, one luxury sale will have a large impact on the average sales price.
Luxury Market ($500,000+):
There was a 77.7% decrease in luxury home sales from the same time as last year. The luxury market continues to suffer as lenders strengthen debt to income ratios, and tighten lending standards. This portion of our market has almost come to a standstill in the past two years. There was a peak in August, which was due to a 22% drop in the average price. Someone got motivated to sell.
There is a funny blog called "It's Lovely, I'll Take It." It is an assortment of bad MLS photos with funny commentary. The latest...well just look CLOSELY at the words. Hard to believe this made the MLS, but what do I know...
We have spell check filters for potential fair housing violations, but somehow...I think images are going to add an entirely new dimension to screening.
The University of Cambridge came out with a study a little over a week ago, where they looked at personality traits by state.
They wanted to see if different regions had different personalities. This makes some sense to me. I mean people that live in Oregon tend to want to want be in the outdoors which is a totally different way of living than someone who wants to live in downtown Chicago or New York. Different types of people are going to be attracted to different lifestyles.
Now the study was over the course of 6 years and 619,397 people across the US participated in the online study.
They looked at 5 social traits. The Telegraph summarized the study in the following manner:
(I bolded where Oregon scored in the top or lows).
EXTRAVERSION Personality traits: Sociable, energetic and enthusiastic
High-scoring states: North Dakota, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, Nebraska, Minnesota, Georgia, South Dakota, Utah, Illinois, Florida
School is back in session so it's time for parents to relax. What could be more relaxing than reading real estate market condition reports. I mean forget massages, manicures, spa treatments...market condition reports are where it is at...
The 180 day trend: Average sold price: $223,076 Average original list price: $228,752 % of listing price to sale price: 97.5% % of listings to expire/terminate: 19.2% Average DOM: 122 Listed vs. sold: 41.2%
The 90 day trend: Average sold price: $227,232 Average original list price: $233,125 % of listing price to sale price: 97.5% Average DOM: 125 Listed vs. sold: 40.3%
The 30 day trend: Average sold price: $230,274 Average original list price: $237,660 % of listing price to sale price: 96.9% Average DOM: 131 Listed vs. sold: 44.8%
Well the Salem market's numbers are holding fairly steady. The 30 day trend showed a slight bump in average sold price. Based on the individual homes sales, this appears to be due to some significant price drops in the $400,000+ home prices. There were some homes on the market for a long time, that builders and other sellers appeared to drop their prices in order to solicit the sale. These higher end homes have been stagnating on the local real estate market, and it appears some sellers were motivated to sell. It is also one of the reasons why the list to sale ratio dropped by 1% for the 30 day trend.
It's nice to see a slight increase in the list to sell ratio, but the market is still 15-20% off norm. This is an improvement over the 23-28% of months past. The market appears to be in a plateau at this point. Whether or not it can sustain the plateau with the excess inventory will only be told by time.
When asked to describe McNary Estates in Keizer, those would be my choices. McNary Estates is a golf club community that surrounds the McNary Golf Course.
McNary Estates has homes as well as condo style townhomes. The Castle Pine townhomes have monthly dues that run around $198 per month that covers lawn care for the yard as well as the common areas. The Fountains at McNary have quarterly dues of $469. Dues are subject to change, so verify them with McNary HOA.
The McNary Estates dues are an additional $208 per year.
The subdivision surrounds the golf course and you will see many golfers and golf carts cruising around the neighborhood.
Homes are well maintained and there are CC&R's for the community.
McNary Estates is located in Keizer Elementary, Whitaker Middle, and McNary High School Districts. As with all school districts boundaries are subject to change so verify school boundaries if this is important to you.
In the first 6 months of 2008, 13 homes have sold at McNary Estates. They ranged in price from $262,900-$549,000 with an average of $369,676. They spend an average of 93 DOM.
There are currently 23 active listings for McNary Estates ranging in price from $295,000-$519,000 with an average of $373,469 and 74 DOM.
The exterior of the home was beautiful. Brick masonry adorned the front of the home with wonderful accents that would make any buyer feel affluent. We laughed as we walked up the stairs to view the home.
As we hit the top of the stairs, I started to sniff. What was that? As I cracked open the front door, I was almost bowled over. A gust of sour milk. Right in the face.
Ugh...
"Guys, I said...the house stinks."
Brave souls that they were, they ventured inside the home. The littlest one, holding her nose ran through the vacant home waiting to be let into the back yard. Anyplace was better than downstairs where the smell was the worst.
It was the fridge, no doubt about it. The stench was overwhelming. I made the mistake of opening it to help determine the source of the smell. Bad idea. Remind me never to do that again.
The buyers went through the house and looked around. As we passed onto the garage downstairs, decaying grass permeated the garage and stairwell. Decaying grass and sour milk...a most unpleasant combination.
I was begging for vanilla scented candles or some hint of potpourri. ANYTHING.
It was time to high tail it out of there. With our sense of smell permanently traumatized, my clients left the house. Not interested.
The granite tiles and brick masonry were helpless against the stench of sour milk and decaying grass.
Al Donohue accused me of only being on AR for entertainment value. I don't want to disappoint him. So Al, this video is for you.
I want to be just like this guy. How in the world did I miss this training class?? If any of you are strugging in this market, take note of his techniques...
One of the great things about living in Oregon is just the natural beauty that surrounds us. What makes living in the Mid-Willamette Valley so great is the ability to get to the coast and out to the mountains fairly easily.
This past Saturday it was around 105 degrees here in the valley. This is a rare event for an August in Oregon, but it's been a weird year weather wise.
We decided to head to North Santiam State Park, which has the Santiam River running through it. The Santiam River is a popular river for rafters and kayaks and it is rare when we go there to not see several people heading down river.
Also popular at the river is fishing, but I haven't seen anyone actually catch anything yet. I'm sure they do, but the water moves pretty swiftly right by the park.
A great place for kids and families, the water level is pretty low for a ways out so kids can safely play there. It does get deep and the water moves swiftly so keeping an eye on kids is essential.
The park has
hiking trails
picnic tables
fishing
restrooms
boat launching area/stopping area
The park is day use only at this time, with no camping allowed. From Salem it only takes 35 minutes or so to get out there, so it is a perfect day trek to beat the heat.
I love the details and wondering what the owners were like 100 years ago. I like seeing the original water closet as it is reminiscent of our past and where we have come from. Salem has several designated historic districts, including one downtown. We have two residential historic districts Bush Park/Gaity Hill and Court-Chemeketa.
Last year I helped a local buyer purchase an old home. Completely neglected, this home was the blight of the historic district. Inside the original wood floors, window panes, and trim screamed for someone to restore the home. The claw foot tub would eagerly await a new owner.
Buying in a historic district comes with some rules. Currently Fairmount Hills has an application for the National historic Register. Even if the home is not on the national register, in can be a local landmark.
If you want to purchase an historic home you need to be aware of these rules. They do make remodeling and updating the exterior of a historic home more difficult. The goal of the historic district is to preserve a piece of our past. Maintaining the essence of these homes is part of agreeing to live there. This is also important to research if you want to purchase a home. It is possible that the previous homeowner made some changes that would make it be a non-contributing property.
While it sounds difficult, living in the Historic Districts has some benefits. The property and homeowner may be eligible for City of Salem rehabilitation funds, or low interest, and no interest loans as well. There are also some tax advantages to owning one of these homes. All I ask is that if you remodel the interior of the home, please keep it in character with the home. I've seen many remodels that were better described as remuddles.
I just wrote a post a couple of days about about "old" Englewood. Despite the fact that Englewood is one area, there really are to vey different atmosphere's to the neighborhood. East Englewood runs from 23rd to around Park and is made up of homes built in the 1950-1970 range.
Variations on a ranch could be the theme for this part of Englewood. While the neighborhood is very stable, it doesn't have the variety of architecture of older Englewood. I wouldn't call it cookie cutter, but it does lack some architectural diversity.
WVMLS Market Data:Approximately 7 homes sold last year (2007) in the neighborhood an average price of $196,007. Sold prices ranged from $149,900-$249,900. They averaged 53 DOM.
If you are looking for a neighborhood area close to downtown that is affordable, Englewood might be the right fit for you.
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Archives
In the 3nd quarter this year, 424 homes closed on the market. That is down 27 % from the same time frame last year when 581 homes closed in the third quarter. Sales volume is still off, and with the current financial markets, I don't see these numbers looking any better.
We decided to head to 
WVMLS Market Data:
