On Real Estate & More – February 2018

February is when many people start to wonder if it’s time to put their house up for sale. It’s not a bad idea to start thinking this way, as spring marks the beginning of the busiest home-selling and home-buying season in most areas. With warmer weather, more daylight, and the motivation to get settled into a new home before a new school year begins, there are more buyers in spring and summer. And relative to demand, the supply of homes is usually tighter in spring and summer than in fall and winter.

The supply, or inventory of homes in Jackson County is incredibly low right now and real estate sales have been strong. Most economists say that a six-month supply of homes represents a healthy market—the time it would take to use up the current supply of homes at the current rate of demand if no additional homes were added to the market. One way to determine if it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market is to look at the supply, or the number of homes for sale. If the supply is low, it is most likely a seller’s market.

The Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service (SOMLS) provides statistical information about Jackson and Josephine County sales. The SOMLS reported that for the month of December 2017, Jackson County had a 1.9-month supply of homes. Jacksonville had a 2.4-month supply of homes. Another indicator of a low supply of homes and strong sales is the number of days on the market. For the month of December 2017, the average number of days for a house to be on the market in Jackson County was 41 days. For Jacksonville, the average number of days was 34 days. Home sales for the fourth quarter of 2017 were also strong for Jacksonville, with 24 homes sold in Jacksonville during that time. The price of housing has also increased with SOMLS reporting existing median home prices in the 4th quarter of 2016 in Jacksonville at $315,000 and 380,000 in the 4th quarter of 2017, an increase of over 20%.