Hood River, OR

With the slow economy we have seen a slowing of construction projects in the gorge. Lot sales in Hood River have been extremely slim. Lot prices have come way down in price. You can buy a buildable lot in Hood River starting at $69,000 now. I haven't seen prices like this in quite a few years. There are 69 lots currently listed in Hood River starting at $69,000. One very nice lot on the market is located in the East Stonegate neighborhood of Hood River. It is the last of 2 remaining buildable lots in Stonegate and priced now at $140,000 and even has the apartment option which allows for a legal studio or 1 bdrm apartment incorporated into the home design. I am very familiar with this lot as it is next door to a home my husband and I built 4 years ago and currently have rented. We built a second home that we live in next to the one we've rented out. We love living in the Stonegate Subdevelopment in Hood River. Other areas of the gorge have some low priced lots and land as well. In Stevenson, Washington you can buy a nice buildable lot in a country setting for just $39,900. There are 80 lots listed in Stevenson, WA from $39,900 to $200,000+. There is even a 5 acre parcel for $89,000. If you are thinking about building a new home now is an excellent time to start. Lot prices are lower than they've been in years and lumber prices are at very low prices as well. Work has slowed down for contractors and many are ready willing and able to start on your building project quickly.

Pictured above is one of the two last buildable lots in Stonegate-this one listed at $140,000. The house is located directly to the west of the buildable lot. This custom 3365 sq ft home with 5 bdrms, 4 full baths, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, family room, study nook,balcony and covered front porch will be back on the market in appr one year.

Disclaimer: I assume no responsibilty for accuracy of information provided within this post and blog. Many entries on this blog are based on the opinions and ideas of the author and are provided without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied.

Here's the home sales activity in Hood River County for May 2009. This information is from the RMLS and includes listed property sales only-no FSBO's. There were 13 total residential home sales for the month of May 2009 in Hood River County. There are currently 28 homes sale pending in escrow.

These are the sold homes and locations: Hood River-7 Cascade Locks-1 Westside Hood River-1 Eastside Hood River-1 Odell- 2 Parkdale-1

(No picture) Cascade Locks- Sold for $94,000 2 Bdrm 2 bath 1234 sq ft. DOM-7

Hood River- Listed for $215,000 Sold for $175,000 850 sq ft 2 bdrm 1 bath DOM(days on market)-289

Hood River- Listed for $229,000 Sold for $226,000 1244 sq ft 2 bdrm 2 bath DOM-11

Hood River-Sold for $238,000 1404 sq ft 3 bdrm 2 bath DOM-54

Hood River- Sold for $250,000 1465 sq ft 3 bdrm 2 bath DOM-346

Hood River- Sold for $375,000 1390 sq ft 2 bdrm 2.1 bath DOM-146

Hood River- Listed for $269,000 Sold for $249,000 1507 sq ft 3 bdrm 2.1 bath DOM-343

Hood River- Townhome-Listed for $575,000 Sold for $570,000 1716 sq ft 3 bdrm 2 bath DOM-386

Westside-Hood River Listed for $825,000 Sold for $760,000 4 bdrm 3.1 bath 2981 sq ft. DOM-420

Eastside-Hood River- Listed for $225,000 Sold for $225,000 2 bdrm 1 bath 768 sq ft DOM-9

Odell- 1024 sq ft. 2 bdrm 1 bath Listed for $199,000 Sold for $176,000 DOM-10

Odell- 1728 sq ft 5 bdrm 2 bath manufactured home Listed for $175,000 Sold for $130,000 DOM-25

Parkdale- 1296 sq ft 2 bdrm 1 bath .43 acre mtn view Listed for $229,950 Sold for $201,500 DOM-294

There are currently 28 homes sale pending in Hood River County: 1-Cascade Locks, 21-Hood River 5- Odell, 2- Parkdale-

Disclaimer: I assume no responsibilty for accuracy of information provided within this post and blog. The entries on this blog are based on the opinions and ideas of the author and are provided without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied.

The Indian Creek Trail is a pleasant walk from the heights to the east side of Hood River or vice versa. The trail follows an old wooden city water or sewer main (I'm not sure which but it isn't in use anymore). If you start on the Heights side, you can hear Indian Creek very soon on the trail then you begin to hear the Hood River. When you are near where it ends on the east side of town you can see the Hood River from several spots. There is even a viewing bench and a picnic table near the east end of the trail. The scenery also includes trees-pine, maple, alder, fir and many other native forest plants and shrubbery. It is an easy walk of about 2-3 miles round trip.

If you are wondering how the real estate market has been doing in Hood River County here's some data going back to Jan 2008. Unfortunately the number of homes sold each month so far in 2009 has been less than the number of sales that month in the prior year. It took a bit longer for the slow market to hit us here in the gorge than in some other areas of the country. Things started to slow down around 2006 and kept declining. I see the "sale pendings" each month are going up slightly now which is a good sign. Homes are still moving, however slowly and from my experience loans have been taking longer. I had one deal with one thing after another on the lending side. The buyers had very good credit and were even putting 1/2 down. It finally closed last week after 3 extensions and supplying many additional requested items to the underwriter.

2008-homes sold in Hood River County

• Jan-10
• Feb-12
• March-12
• April-15
• May-27
• June-13
• July-19
• Aug-17
• Sept-18
• Oct-22
• Nov-12
• Dec-13

2009-homes sold in Hood River County

• Jan-7
• Feb-6
• March-7
• April-10
• May-13
• June-15