Let’s Talk Real Estate – December 2018/January 2019
Many were surprised to see the median price of a home in Jacksonville hit an all-time high of $578,500 for the last 90 days, ending October 31. Not only is this a record, it exceeds the median home price of Ashland which has held the record for highest home prices in Jackson County for years. Although home prices are increasing in Jacksonville, they are not necessarily going up as fast as these numbers would lead you to believe. Jacksonville is small, so the number of homes that sell in a 90-day period results in a statistically small sample and the numbers can vary drastically from quarter to quarter. There were actually only 18 existing homes sold in the last 90 days compared to 28 homes sold last year at this same time. Although home sales decreased in the last 90 days, half of the homes that did sell went for more than $500,000, which is a record and caused the median price to hit an all-time high.
Jacksonville is such a desirable city to live in that it’s struggling to fulfill the demand for affordable homes. The streets are safe and filled with dog walkers, strollers, bicyclists, joggers—deer and turkeys; and it reminds many of Mayberry R.F.D or the Gilmore Girls’ fictional hometown of Stars Hollow. Whether it’s a family with small kids who enjoy Doc Griffin Park and one of the top-rated elementary schools, or retirees that enjoy walking downtown for coffee, wine tasting, shopping at local merchants, to having dinner or to listening to live music at one of four venues, this is, for many, the perfect town to live in.
Built in the Siskiyou foothills, Jacksonville doesn’t have much low-cost, flat land left to develop for mid-priced homes. In the last 90 days, three homes sold in Gold Terrace Heights, which is a brand new subdivision where the lots alone are going for $250,000, with the final home packages averaging $600,000-$650,000 for a 2,000 sq. ft. home. It’s the same with Timber Ridge, which has large view lots where the average home is being built for a total cost of around $700,000. Not only are new homes pushing prices up, four existing homes sold in Nunan Square and one in Pheasant Meadows—all in the $500,000 range, and two sold on Wells Fargo for the high $400,000’s and low $700,000’s. The median price of just the homes that “resold” went up to $578,500. If you added in new home sales, because of Timber Ridge and Gold Terrace Heights, that number would be even higher.
None of this means you can’t buy a great home in Jacksonville for a lot less. In the same 90 day time period, three homes sold in the $200,000 range, with a condo and a small cottage selling for just over $200,000. Five homes sold in the $300,000 range with a newer condo in the Farms selling for $350,000 and five really nice homes sold in the $400,000 range. While this might seem high compared to the average price of a home in Jackson County, Jacksonville provides a unique lifestyle not found in many places. You do have to make the choice between really nice newer homes in East Medford, priced in the mid $300,000’s, or a small older cottage in Jacksonville priced the same. It’s not a hard choice to make when you remember the three most important things in buying real estate—Location, Location, Location!