Sales activity in Lane County saw marked improvements compared to September 2008.  Closed sales grew 23.2% and pending sales were up 38.4%.  However, new listings fell 4.8%.

Comparing September 2009 with August 2009, closed sales increased 11.7% (297 v. 266).  Pending sales were up 5.3% (357 v. 339).  But new listings decreased 11.3% (519 v. 585).  As the listing inventory decreases,  the monthly rate of sale as compared to the total active listings (2,030) it would take 6.8 months to “use up” that inventory.  That inventory is still within the average range where the negotiations between buyers and sellers are nearly equal.  In other words, it is neither a buyer’s nor a seller’s market.  That evens out the power of negotiation so that neither party has a real “edge”.

Included in that inventory are a number of “short sales” where the potential buyer negotiates with the lender, asking them to take less than what is owed on the property.  Most lenders will consider such an offer provided it is not badly undercut.  The down side is that such sales tend to depress the market with lower selling prices which may not reflect the true market value.  However, appraisers will use those “comps” to arrive at an appraised value which may end up to be lower than the selling price negotiated between a willing buyer and a willing seller.  This can cause problems with obtaining a desired loan amount and could “kill” the transaction.

But all in all things are looking up for a nice “recovery” in 2010.

Inventory on the market had reached a new low for recent month’s activity at 6.2.  That means that it would take 6.2 months for all the listings in Lane County to be sold.  This continues to be an indicator that the market is reaching a more normal, or equal, status.  That is,  it is gradually starting to move away from a heavily buyer’s market and more toward a normal market where both buyers and sellers have an equal opportunity to negotiate a sale.  We’re certainly not there yet and it may take months before we reach that kind of a market, but I believe the indicators show we are seeing some change in that direction.  Therefore, it remains a opportune time for buyers to buy.

Good news for buyers in this current real estate market.  The avenage selling price for properties in Lane County continue to fall at the rate of 8.8% for the month of July 2009 as compared to July of 2008.  The average selling price for July 2009 was $237,700 versus $269,700 for the same month in 2008.  Likewise the median selling price dropped from $224,000 to $215,000.  The median selling price is determined by the exact middle of all the sales, meaning there were an equal amount of sales above that price as below.

This is a perfect time for buyers to take adantage of this market with relatively lower prices and interest rate that continue to be at historic lows.

The listing inventory for Lane County (Eugene/Springfield and surrounding areas) is down significantly for the month of June to 6.8 months.  The indicator is the length of time it would take to sell all the listings on the market.  This figure when compared to last June’s number of 8.1 months is a good improvement and a vast improvement when compared to January 2009’s figure of 20.6 months.  June 2009’s figure is the lowest point since August 2007.  This now indicates a healther market in that it allows a more even playing field for negotiations between buyers and sellers.  However, to put it into perspective, the listings for June 2009 were down by 163 from June of 2008.