Krista Bolf, Ashland Homes & Real Estate Medford Homes & Real Estate for Sale

Southern Oregon residents concerned about losing their home to foreclosure can receive help Saturday, Oct. 17, at an event in Medford organized by several government agencies, nonprofits, and real estate organizations.

The Home Ownership Preservation Event (HOPE) will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the SOU/RCC Higher Education Center at 101 South Bartlett in Medford. At the free event, homeowners can learn about the options available to help them save their homes, including the federal Making Home Affordable Plan and Oregon's Senate Bill 628, which gives homeowners the right to meet with their lender to discuss a loan modification.

Homeowners can set up a one-on-one meeting with a foreclosure counselor certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Both English- and Spanish-speaking counselors will be available. Government agencies, lenders and loan servicers, lawyers, and Realtors also will be on hand to provide information and answer questions. Also attending will be servicers from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase.

The event will offer free clinics on the Making Home Affordable Plan, short sales, and avoiding foreclosure scams.

To register for the event, homeowners can call ACCESS Inc. at 541-774-4305.

Sponsors of the Medford event include: ACCESS Inc., the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon Housing and Community Services, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Center for Nonprofit Legal Services, City of Ashland, City of Medford, Grants Pass Association of Realtors, Southern Oregon Housing Resource Center, Rogue Valley Association of Realtors, SOFCU Community Credit Union, and the SOU/RCC Higher Education Center.

This is the second Home Ownership Preservation Event the state has helped organize. The first event was held at Portland's Memorial Coliseum in May.

The Department of Consumer and Business Services, the Department of Justice, and Oregon Housing and Community Services have been working with the legislature, and consumer groups to protect Oregonians from mortgage fraud and provide resources to homeowners facing foreclosure.

The agencies have provided funding for foreclosure counseling using proceeds from Oregon settlements exposing mortgage fraud. Homeowners can call 1-800-SAFENET or log onto www.211info.org to find a counselor in their area. In addition, the state launched a new Web site for homeowners at http://foreclosurehelp.oregon.gov. The site contains information and resources to help homeowners prevent foreclosure, avoid scams, and better understand the foreclosure process.

A new bill passed this year will further help homeowners. Senate Bill 628 requires lenders to meet with borrowers facing foreclosure - either in person or by phone - and evaluate whether they qualify for a loan modification. A loan modification could help borrowers lower their monthly payments and keep their home.

According to L. Yun, NAR's chief economist, "summer is not the only thing that has ended. The world-wide economic recession is also essentially over. Led by countries such as Brazil, India, and, in particular, China, the economies of the world are digging themselves out of that recessionary ditch."
The most important factor for those of you trying to "figure out" the real estate market locally in the Ashland and Medford area this means the number of home sales is going up (at least more than last year), inventory has slowly, but surely gone down in the last year, and home prices don't seem to be going down (at least not under $350k). In fact, in the bottom end of the price range, I have seen price wars and an increase in the property prices. Good news for those buyers who were not afraid to buy about 8 months ago.

Below are some of the recent statistics posted by the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service (Ashland & Medford Oregon area). These statistics compare July 2008 to July 2009:

The Months Supply of Inventory in all areas have gone down. Overall Jackson County's supply has gone down from over 14 months supply to 8 months supply. The number os homes for sale in Ashland has gone down from over 18 months to about 10 months supply. The number of homes for sale in East Medford has gone from 14.5 months to 8 months, and West Medford from 9 to 5 months. Good news for sellers.

Pending home sales in Ashland have gone up from 23 to 28 in this time period, East Medford declined from 47 to 46, West Medford increase from 27 to 52!!, and the county overall saw an increase from 155 to 201 sales which is approx. a 30% increase in the number of sales.

According to an article in RIS Mediahousing affordability continues to be near highest level in 18 Years. RIS media says "The HOI showed that 72.3% of all new and existing homes sold in the second quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,000, down only slightly from the record-high 72.5% during the previous quarter and up from 55.0% during the second quarter of 2008."

Most experts equate the affordability to be related to low interest rates and the first time home buyer's credit of $8000. I personally believe all of this is true based on my experience as an agent in Ashland and Medford area. In some cases, I am seeing home prices at their 2001 or 2002 price level.

Although inventory has come down in the last year, there are still many choices for buyer. You can log unto my webpage at www.ashlandprowest.com and use the new easy property search to look for you home.

Also on our website is a link to JackStats which provides local home sales statistics.