June Monthly Market Real Estate Update

June 13, 2024

Happy Summer!  We’re a bit early, but always ahead of the game.  We hope you are enjoying the warmer weather.  Real Estate is local.  Here is a summary of our market over the last month.

Current Active Listings (All Types)	2713	Up 8% from last month & up 21% from this time last year
Current Pending Listings	1169	Up 2% from last month & down 4% from this time last year
Sold Listings Last Month	800	Up 6% from last month & up 4% from this time last year
New Listings Last Month	1340	Up 5% from last month & up 7% from this time last year
Months of Inventory	3.98	Up 7% from last month & up 30% from this time last year
% List to Sold Ratio	98.80%	Up .2% from last month & down 0.9% from this time last year
Absorption Rate *Based on current active listings vs sold listings for the past month	29%*	Down 3% from last month & down 19% from this time last year
Average Sales Price in All Categories	$470,000	Up 2% from last month & up 5% from this time last year
Average Residential Sales Price **Based on Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Statistics	$495,000**	Up 1% from last month & up 3% from this time last year
Average Owner Occupied Interest Rates ***Based on Freddiemac.com Statistics of 30 year fixed mortgage	6.99%***	Down 1.4% from last month & up 4% from this time last year
Consumer Price Index (CPI) **** All items-FED’s Goal is 2%	3.3%****	Down 3% from last month & down 28% from this time last year

+Some numbers are rounded

June is a month of graduations and families planning their transitions for the next season of their lives.  We are seeing our market take a turn for the better with higher sales as more people are accepting interest rates where they are.  It may still be a while before they soften as the government continues to fight inflation with the most recent numbers showing more discouraging times ahead for consumers.  Wednesday’s CPI report shows that inflation dropped slightly from 3.4% to 3.3% YOY.  The FED also met on Wednesday holding rates the same and indicating that they might make one change throughout the rest of 2024.  This means that mortgage rates will likely continue on the sideways path that they are currently on.

The recent jobs report continues to show that more people are working multiple jobs in order to maintain their lifestyles and pay for necessary items.  The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that 272,000 non farm jobs were created in May but the unemployment rate increased from 3.9% to 4%.  Wages went up, which is an understandable reaction to the inflationary period we are in.

We are seeing a time where cash is nearing 30% of all Real Estate transaction sales, and this does not take into account the number of homes where cash is dominant in the form of a down payment, but still utilizing financing.  Cash is prevalent and many people are leveraging their cash to purchase more Real Estate for investment purposes. 

Investors are making a large dent in the purchases of Real Estate as this graph indicates.   Unfortunately owner occupied purchases are decreasing in their trend as more people are struggling to obtain home ownership.  We work hard to maintain policies that help homeownership for occupied borrowers.  Unfortunately our government programs and subsidies are mostly helping investors by creating apartment complexes which are growing exponentially in our area.  However, Real Estate investment is a very good wealth building strategy.  If you haven’t considered buying a property for a rental or short term investment, give us a call.

We work with a lot of clients who have not considered or have not taken advantage of the benefits of a Trust.  From our perspective, this is one area that anyone with valuable assets should strongly consider, especially if they have Real Estate holdings.  The benefit of a Trust allows the owner’s estate to avoid probate proceedings which are much more costly and lengthy.  A probate court process may be very expensive in attorney fees depending on the size of the estate.  A Trust (and Will) created specifically for your situation usually costs a fraction of the fees of probate services.  Besides this benefit, it also allows the owners to determine who the trustees are and how their assets shall be controlled, instead of leaving the decision to a probate judge after a lengthy legal process.

Although this process can be done without professional help, it is our recommendation that a good estate planning attorney is involved.  Give us a call if you would like any recommendations.

We hope this information is valuable to you.  We work hard to understand our market and have the expertise to bring you the best experience with the highest returns.

Give us a call if you need anything and please refer us to all of your friends and family.  We believe we are the best agents to help the people you care about.