About Jackson County, OR

Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, USA. It is near the California boarder and located south of the Rogue Valley. Ashland is well-known for its annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival that brings thousands of tourists to the city each year. Other than the OSF, Ashland also has the Cabaret Theater and Independent Film Festival which features musical and films every year. Ashland is also known for its parks and recreation areas. This includes Lithia Park which is more than 92 acres, that has two ponds, a Japanese garden, tennis courts, public greens, outdoor stage, and hiking trails. Population in Ashland increases at 2.8% from last year, totaling to 20,078 according to U.S Decennial Census.

Statistics from August - October 2011

89.4% of the residential properties that sold from August 1 through October 31 this year including rural.

Total active listings for the Jackson County reached 1,490 houses. 254 houses were sold in Ashland for an average of 117 days in the market, getting a median price of $195,000 with a 3.5% drop from last years’ quarter period of $305,000.

The number of Ashland foreclosures (reo's) is 7 with a median price of $207,500. The number of Ashland short sales is 4 with the median of $186,500.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell in Southern Oregon, contact JARED HOKANSON for a free consultation.

Median Price means the midpoint, with half of the sales being above and half below the listed number; it is not the same as average. Median prices reflect overall market trends and are not a measure of pricing for individual properties. Small sampling sizes can lead to wide variances in year to year comparisons. “REO” means Real Estate Owned, indicating bank or mortgage company ownership. “Short” stands for Short Sale, where third party approval is required for the transaction.

Statistics are based on reporting by REALTORS® to the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service.

123 High St, Ashland $459,900

Incredibly charming, 2 bdrm, 2 full bath Victorian, beautifully renovated & very close to the Plaza & Lithia Park. Originally built in 1864, this home has good solid bones, great natural light & has been carefully maintained, renovated & refurbished over the years. Downstairs boasts a fully remodeled kitchen with new appliances, granite counters & locally crafted cabinets. Beech hardwood flooring graces the entire downstairs, w/fireplace, formal dining, breakfast area & attached 1-car garage. Upstairs has 2 BRs, small office, full bath, skylights & new carpeting. Easy care patio & yard.

Last, but not least, I use a comparative market analysis to determine the value of a property I am going to be listing for sale or for a buyer to help determine what should they pay to purchase a home.

Every Realtor uses different methods to calculate value. All of them will use at least the past data regarding sold properties. Some will also use the active, pending, and expired homes too. Also important is the current inventory levels.

The sold data will tell what properties have sold for, how long they were on the market, and how many have sold.

The pending data can tell you have "active' the market is....No pendings...no buyers. Lots of pendings...lots of buyers.

The active data will tell you what is the competition. If there are a lot of very nice homes priced well, then you should be prepared to be more competitive. If there are only few homes, then perhaps you can be more aggressive with pricing.

If only an average of 1 home sold a month for the past year that means only 12 homes a year will probably sell. So if there are 24 homes on the market, essentially there is a 2 year supply. A four to six months supply in normal. In the case where there is a lot of supply, then you may need to be ready to lower your price.

An appraisal on your home is the most important model for determining the value of your home. I think a Realtors comparative market analysis is usually just as good at getting to the "real" value, but it will be the appraisal that will make the deal work or not.

Appraisers have come under the gun a lot in the last few years and have become much more cautious about their product - the appraisal. Most all appraisals have to meet federal guidelines on how they are completed, and if it is an FHA appraisal, that value is entered into the system and IS now the value.

Typically an appraiser must use at least 3 comparable sold properties and adjust the value of these to make it "equal" to the house they are doing the appraisal on. A Realtor will probably use many more and adjust differently. Appraisers work more on facts and values and are not involved with buyers actively looking in the current real estate market so therefore don't see the market from a buyer's eyes, but deal with recorded past transactions. This can be frustrating to all the parties.

It is ok to challenge an appraisal, but it is time consuming and will cost more money.

Automated Valuation Models are usually used by lenders for property estimates. It is a fancy term for determining value by platforms such as Zillow. Typically the value is by creating a radius search of county sold data and figuring out an average price per square foot.

This type of valuation works ok in homogeneous tract neighborhoods, but not so well in areas with a lot of variation. Also since the computer is strickly averaging numbers,and it does not adjust for condition, view, or other things. It is a decent starting place as far as determining the average area value, but should not be considered on par with an appraisal or Realtors comparative market analysis, or even a BPO.