The spring real estate market in Southern Oregon has hit pause as Covid 19 disrupts life as we have known it. There is consistent activity from buyers and sellers in the market who need to sell or buy, but the current activity is only for the most serious people with inflexible timelines.

Pending sales for March 2020 were down 51% over March 2019. So even though the numbers are down significantly, since this is typically our busiest time of year, there is consistent activity with 146 homes going pending in March. All price categories under $500,000 have only 1-2 months of available inventory for buyers, price ranges above $500,000 have 7+ months of inventory available.

Governor Kate Brown has designated real estate as an essential business. We are listing and selling homes daily with full precautions in place including riding separately to homes, distancing during showings, masks, gloves, not touching surfaces in homes, and only showing the homes near the top of a buyer’s list. To assist sellers in determining market price we are reviewing their homes by Facetime or other video technologies and this has worked very well.

Each client has a unique situation and we always work to find individual strategies that create the most optimal situation for them. As we navigate the disruptions while preserving health and safety for all we are utilizing newer technologies. We recently purchased a 3D Matterport camera to create 3D walk-throughs of homes for online visitors and for our virtual open houses. This offers the client an online experience that feels like they are physically in the home and offers a “Dollhouse” view which allows them to look down into the home with the roofline removed, seeing all spaces with the existing furnishings and experience how it “lives”

New listing inventory is down as our communities take a pause but as the movement restrictions are lifted, we expect to see a surge of listings hit the market. We have a lot of pent up buyer demand awaiting new inventory. Rates are low and we expect them to remain low into the future. We expect robust activity once our communities reopen. Real estate was extraordinarily strong as Covid19 appeared in the United States and that is fully expected to resurge with some adaptations.

If you are contemplating selling or purchasing a home or property, please reach out to us so that you can benefit from our no obligation strategies that will give you a step by step plan and timeline. If you would like a current market overview sent to you, please let us know, we are always happy to share our knowledge and expertise with you.

Thank you,

Patie Millen

Patie Millen Group, Inc.

541-301-3435

patie@ashlandoregon.com