Springfield, OR

The above mural is what you see when you pull up to the Springfield Farmers' market. The market is open every Friday (during the growing season) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The market is located between 5th & 6th Streets on Main Street in downtown Springfield. It is being held in the Springfield Museum parking lot.

When I was there today, there weren't very many vendors, but the ones there seemed to have a lot of great produce that was grown locally. I purchased some yellow grape tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. I guess it was my day to go yellow.

Personally, I can't wait until sweet corn and ripe red tomatoes are on the list of available produce. There were red tomatoes available, but weren't ripe, so I passed. For me, there is nothing better than Willamette Valley sweet corn on the cob. Of course, it should be dripping in butter, that makes it soooo good for you. LOL

Since we had a fairly late spring, I saw something I didn't expect, and that was these outstanding strawberries. Just so you know, our strawberries are the best for flavor. These are really colorful, but I didn't try them for flavor.

There were also colorful flowers on display for sale. If you were hungry, there are also refreshments available. So, try the Springfield Farmers' Market. See you there!

In a recent post, I said I would post one more of my pictures of my wife's flower garden. I don't have nearly as many flowers this year as previously because my wife isn't here to plant them. I am doing my best to keep things growing though and keep the weeds down.

It amazes me how a weed can grow on a rock but a flower not only requires good soil to grow in, but it also requires regular watering, fertilizer and plenty of space, so it isn't choked out. Weeds though, only require you not to pull them. I know that if I tried to grow dandelions, they wouldn't grow, because I was trying, but since I am not, they do quite well, thank you! Here is the last installment of flowers, I hope you enjoy them as much as Elaine did!

I truely hope you enjoy this last installment. Have a wonderful weekend.

I promised more pictures of my flowers, so I guess I have to deliver. The Willamette Valley is one of the finest places in the world to grow things. I have a lot of plants that grow even without my help. Those, I consider weeds. My wife and I had a disagreement as to what constituted a weed. I said if it grew where it wasn't planted, it was a weed. She said it if bloomed, it was a flower.

My easy win was to point out the poor dandylion. It blooms, but it is always a weed. I think the only thing it is good for is wine. LOL Well, here are the latest floral examples:

I will add more flowers later. I just want to stress that flowers grow here, abundantly.

The signs were are clearer in February that the Lane County real estate market is leveling out. While the median price for a Lane County home fell 6 %, compared to a year ago, to $220,000, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service,the number of pending sales was flat in every neighborhood across Eugene and Springfield, compared to a year ago. This after nearly every month for the past 12 months we have seen declines in pending sales. With a estimated nine month inventory at 1,925 homes on the market — even some of the most optimistic real estate professionals don’t expect the prices now being fetched by existing homes to hold forever. A lot has changed since June 2007 when Lane County witnessed its pinnacle median price of $243,300 — or 10 percent more than today’s median. While the market has declined from the boom of '05-'07, what appears to many as a huge decline in the market, is actually just a leveling off of the market with values correcting themselves based on the local economy. While our economy is not charging ahead like a bull, we are not seeing job rates decrease, with Lane County jobs growing at an annual rate of 0.5 percent, according to the Employment Department. The region’s population growth grew at 1 percent last year.

Since home prices in California took a tumble over the past year, the stream of transplants coming to Oregon to enjoy our lower cost of living slowed as Seller's are still sitting on their homes in declining markets. It’s much harder for troubled borrowers to get a loan now. The lending industry has tightened up standards for lending to elimintate the slide of foreclosures due to subprime lending practices targeting those troubled borrowers. The local media has presented the facts in a negative light, but what we see happening in Lane County is a return to normalcy after unusualy high market appreciaton for ou area in the pst couple years. Other regions of the country have seen double-digit deflation over the past year at the same time Lane County prices were rising. So relax, don't go defaulting on your loan, People still need to move, buyers still have to buy. You just have competition where there was little in the past. When competing against other homes you just have to have a good game plan; If you are priced higher than your competition homes, you have to get real and realize that PRICE IS KING in this market! Pricing your home competitively in the beginning will get you a higher sales price in the long run. Do the upgrades that raise your curb appeal. Don't spend money doing upgrades that are no longer bringing returns! Your home's first impression is the most important thing to focus on. You don't want prospective buyer's ruling you out prior to entering the home. Make Sure you have an agressive internet marketing plan. If you aren't sure what your Realtor is doing to sell your home, ASK THEM. Statistics show that nearly 80% of buyers are starting their search on the internet, if your broker is waiting for sign calls and ignoring the internet, tell them to get in their time machine and go back to a time when that worked! Internet presence is necessary to get your home seen by buyers. IT IS NOT ENOUGHT TO BE IN THE LOCAL MLS.

HOME SALES - February 2008 Home Sales - February 2008 Report Agent Name: Dawn Aquino 541-741-9977 541-606-2517 Date: 3/10/2008 Time: 6:20:52 PM Sales Active Listings Type Price Class 2 or fewer 3 Bdrms 4 or more Condo Units Total Units Residential Units Condo Units UNDER 29,999 3 0 0 0 3 15 0 30,000 - 39,999 1 4 0 0 5 11 0 40,000 - 49,999 1 1 0 0 2 8 0 50,000 - 59,999 0 1 0 0 1 9 0 60,000 - 69,999 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 70,000 - 79,999 1 1 1 0 3 8 1 80,000 - 89,999 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 90,000 - 99,999 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 100,000 - 119,999 2 0 0 3 5 20 26 120,000 - 139,999 4 4 0 0 8 50 10 140,000 - 159,999 4 7 1 2 14 85 12 160,000 - 179,999 3 9 1 1 14 130 16 180,000 - 199,999 3 23 3 1 30 178 24 200,000 - 249,999 2 54 6 1 63 401 20 250,000 - 299,999 1 25 6 0 32 347 32 300,000 - 399,999 2 15 10 0 27 376 10 400,000 - 499,999 0 3 1 0 4 213 8 Over 500,000 0 5 6 0 11 320 3 Total 29 152 35 8 224 2,189 167 Median Price 140,000 224,000 287,500 157,450 220,000 275,000 195,000 Average Price 146,807 237,542 334,907 154,475 238,042 343,402 214,383 Total Dollar Volume Residential Total Dollar Volume Condo Total Home Sales Dollar Value 52,085,523 1,235,801 53,321,324 Time on Market of Units Sold Days # Residential # Condo 0 - 30 56 1 31 - 60 36 1 61 - 90 36 1 91 - 120 31 2 121+ 57 3 Type of Financing of Units Sold Financing # Residential # Condo ASSMP 0 0 CASH 45 0 CONV 149 7 FHA 3 1 OTHER 10 0 VA 9 0