Let’s Talk Real Estate – Dec 2015/Jan 2016
As 2015 comes to a close, we look back at the year in real estate for Jackson County and Jacksonville and take a stab at predicting home sales in 2016.
Jackson County—Great news for all homeowners as the median price of homes sold in Jackson County is up 6.44% and the number of homes sold is up a surprising 23%. 2015 marks the fifth consecutive year of increasing home values and the fifth year since we experienced the lowest values in home prices in recent years.
2014 2015 % Change
# Homes Sold 2995 3687 23% increase
Home Sales $783,990,532 $1,029,154,682 31% increase
Median Price $225,000 $239,500 6.44% increase
Jacksonville—In Jacksonville, we saw the median price increase by 6.59% but the number of homes sold actually decreased by 13%. If you look at the selling price range below and compare 2014 vs. 2015, a few things stand-out. The lower priced homes in Jacksonville have gone up significantly. In 2014, 35 homes sold for under $250,000 compared to only 9 homes in 2015. Conversely, 2015 saw fewer high-end homes sell than in 2014. There were only 4 homes to sell over $800,000 in 2015, compared to 8 in 2014.
2014 2015 % Change
# Homes Sold 106 94 13% decrease
Home Sales $43,532,100 $37,517,123 1.16 decrease
Median Price $354,150 $377,500 6.59% increase
2016 Prediction—We saw a 23% growth in the number of homes sold in 2015, but we also saw inventory drop to an all-time low of just over 1,000 homes for sale in Jackson County and only 42 in Jacksonville. New construction will play a major role in filling the supply gap, but in towns like Ashland and Jacksonville that don’t have room for new construction, we will see prices increase faster than cities with more inventory and more choices. We predict that some buyers will choose Talent over Ashland and Medford over Jacksonville due to a greater selection. We also predict that interest rates will creep-up slowly as the US economy improves, GDP increases and unemployment falls. As interest rates tick-up, buyers sitting on the fence will jump into the market causing an initial wave of home sales. Bottom line: we see home prices in 2016 increasing at a greater rate than 2015 and home sales increasing again by another 25% if home builders can keep up!
*This article was written prior to the closing of 2015. All data was calculated from November 1st 2014 through October 31st, 2015. The data includes homes and multiple dwellings sales but does not include sales of lots, land, commercial properties or mobile homes in parks.