Will the Foreclosure Surge Skip La Grande Oregon?

Will the Foreclosure Surge Skip La Grande Oregon? | La Grande Oregon Real Estate News 2010

For some, the thought that a small town in Eastern Oregon is not saturated with foreclosures and short sales boggles the mind. However, the truth remains that by comparison to larger areas, we have not seen nearly the drop they have seen. Sure, we have lost some real estate value and we have a few foreclosures, but no where near the surge that nearly destroyed cities like Bend and Portland.

So why you ask? There are a number of reasons but I will touch on the ones I believe are the most obvious and biggest contributors.

Eastern Oregon did not overbuild. During the boom, we just did not have subdivision after subdivision going in.

Extreme aesthetic beauty. If you don't know, you should take a trip here.

Low home values to begin with. While we saw some folks shooting for the stars in 2007, we never really had values that were 50% over market.

So now we look toward the future. Will we see a foreclosure surge in 2010 that will ultimately reduce our property values? I think the answer lies with the other areas. Portland and Bend are recovering. California is on the rebound. These have historically been sources of buyers for our small community. We did sustain job losses, but perhaps just as unemployment and savings accounts are running dry, the out-of-towners and an improving economy will help prevent the foreclosures that could occur.

Fingers crossed.

Jeff D Clark

www.JeffDClark.com