Melina Tomson, M.S. Salem Oregon Real Estate Specialist

I like to cook. As I am writing this post, I have some fresh bread rising waiting to go into the oven in an hour or so. In fact my 8 year old only-eating-macaroni-and-cheese son told me I was a great cook when I added Canadian bacon to the homemade mac and cheese. I think I'm headed for Top Chef with that complicated recipe...

I also make a mean strawberry pie. In Oregon we have a kind of strawberry called Independence. I don't think they go outside of Oregon because they have such a high sugar content that you literally have to pick and eat them within 48 hours...not good for crossing state lines. But...these berries make a mean pie. Fresh strawberries with fresh whipped topping is a June staple at my house when these berries are in season.

So what in the heck does my rambling have to do with anything, especially sellers?

Buyer pie

Chris Elizabeth Griffith had a post about what price homes were selling in her area and she did it as a pie chart. I liked the easy format to see where buyers are buying so I did one for Salem Oregon. I don't think the data should be surprising...really the less expensive your home is the more potential buyers there are. Salem Oregon sellers trying to do a short sale need to be aware of these numbers if they truly want to get an offer in on their home.

Currently just over 1/2 of the Salem Oregon buyers are in the $100-$200k range. A little over 1/4 of the buyers are in the $200-$300k range, and well after that...it starts to get dicey. If you have a home that you are trying to sell that costs more than $500,000 then you are competing for 1% of the buyer population right now. No homes have sold that are 1M homes.

So what?...you say...you have a luxury home and you know it will take a while, but let's take a look at the seller pie.

So the differences between the seller pie and buyer pies is what give us our inventories. All price ranges are in a buyer's market, with the under $100,000 price range closest to a neutral market with 8.7 months worth of inventory.

So sellers look at the data and understand that if you want a piece of that buyer pie, especially if you are in the $400-$500,000 price range...you might have to feel like you are giving your house away, OR it better be in amazing condition.

If you want information about how to price your home in this market, just contact me for a local Salem Oregon real estate market analysis.

You can also read my March 2009 real estate market reports for

Salem

Keizer

If you are looking for real estate in Salem Oregon and want to live in a stable neighborhood, Woodscape might be a good choice for you. Now Woodscape is actually three separate sections, Woodscape, Woodscape Glen, and the newest part, Woodscape Green. Homes in the original part of Woodscape were built in the 1970's and have more contemporary architecture. These homes are tucked into mini-forests as the builders/developers did a nice job of keeping trees on the property. Now those trees are nice and large. Woodscape Glen was built mostly in the late 1980's-1990's and these are well maintained homes. The newest addition has many nice homes that are built by Sunco and JR Loney.

View Larger Map

The neighborhood sits right next to Pringle Elementary school and the new Wes Bennet Park. The park is well used in the summer as children climb over the new equipment at the park. The neighborhood has flat streets so it is great for bike riders, joggers, and walkers. The neighborhood feeds into Pringle Elementary, Judson Middle School, and South Salem High School. Remember that school boundaries can change so please check them, if that is important to you.

The average sold home price for this neighborhood in 2008 was $352,107, the median $355,000, and the average DOM was 111 days. A total of 7 homes sold in the neighborhood last year. There are currently 6 homes listed for sale in this neighborhood (at the time of this writing). You can search for Woodscape area homes using the mapping feature of my homes search.

Okay, okay...this post really has little to do with Salem Oregon real estate...unless you are relocating here and want to learn about Oregon.

I like wine and like to support our local vineyards because we have some good wine here.  The WSJ (Wall Street Journal) had a nice article and video about Oregon wines.

The State of Oregon Pinot

You can visit my website for a list of local Salem area vineyards.  Evesham Wood is really great wine, and I have been known to bring it to the closing table for some of my buyers.

Enjoy!

Where is the Salem Oregon real estate market headed in 2009?   You really don't need me to tell you that.  I think we all can guess that it is heading down.  How far...well that depends on the status of those state jobs that employ so many Salemites...

This February market snippet is for the single family, non-acreage property, homes real estate market here in Salem Oregon.

• 30 Day Absorption Rate	74	Down
  Inventory	19.6 months	Up
  Average Sold Price	$204,245	Down
  Median Sold Price	$179,589	Down
  DOM	131	Up

Salem’s inventory increased 4% over January 2009. I would not be surprised to see Salem hit the 20's next month for inventory.  Just a reminder...inventory fluctuates on a daily basis and has seasonal highs and lows. The average home price dropped 2.8% in February over January, which is not surprising given the local economy.  With a 9.3% unemployment rate in Salem AND difficult lending standards, very few people are qualifying to purchase homes over $300,000.  As such the average home price and median home prices should continue to decline as less expensive homes, foreclosures, short sales, and motivated sellers snag buyers.

7.9%.  That is the drop in the median home price in Salem Oregon from January. This is significant since the median home price is a much more difficult number to shift.  This is the halfway point where 50% of homes sold were above that price and 50% below that price.  With only 77 sales to show for January and now 74 for February, this is an bumpy start to the 2009 real estate year.  Many of the ugly real estate numbers that my fellow agents shared with me from across the country will be trending here.  Now that doesn't mean home prices are going to drop 50% here folks...it just means that we are going to decline.

For other metro city snapshots:

• Keizer
• Silverton
• Stayton/Aumsville/Turner/Jefferson
• Dallas, Monmouth, Independence

Forget about the golden rule...

I mean Oregon unemployment is at 9.9% and that doesn't include February's ugly numbers...Homeless shelters, food banks, churches are being pushed to the extremes with many families struggling to make ends meet.

So with all of this cheery news out there, what do we see for troubled folks...

Scams...yep here they come. I mean why be nice to people that are in trouble when you can try and rip them off?

The Oregon Attorney General issued a warning to consumers about scams regarding the stimulus packages. Never ceasing to amaze me is the depths that some individuals go in order to take advantage of others in distress. Not the best in humanity here.

So what is the current scam?

Apparently there are some web sites popping up where consumers can pay a small fee to get a magical list about how to apply for stimulus money. All you have to do is punch in your credit card with expiration date, zip code, and that handy three digit number on the back, for the low...low...scam price of $1.99. In return, the "special" members of our human race take your little ol' credit card number and rack up charges on your behalf.

Special.

Apparently the FTC has received some complaints nationwide regarding this scam so consumers beware. In these difficult times beware of scams such as this one. If you are a troubled homeowner or business owner, I would go directly to the government sources for information.

Clearly some scam artists are saying "Let the games begin..."

Ugh...