Find Out All Things Douglas County Real Estate

Greetings: Good news for our local economy!  Roseburg Forest Company announced a $700,000,000 investment into its Dillard Lumber plant to rebuild and modernize the facility.  This facility will be a state-of-the-art operation, will help Roseburg Lumber to be more competitive, and will employ 120 new employees.  Umpqua Community College recently announced that it recently purchased 3 downtown buildings in hopes of housing over 100 students to meet the needs of their growing student body. The students will help energize the downtown area by eating, shopping, and working downtown.  Lastly, a new $100 million State Veterans home was announced to be built on the VA campus for housing our veterans, which is desperately needed.  As the Veteran population continues to age, medical ...

Greetings: BIG NEWS! Umpqua Bank and Columbia Bank formally merged effective March 1, 2023.  As a result of the combination, the new Umpqua Bank will have over 300 branches throughout the Northwest.  The investment arm of the new merger will be called Columbia Wealth Management.  This represents the largest merger of 2 entities for a total of over $50 billion in assets.  Most customers will not see a change in operation of the bank, in fact many services will be enhanced.  I was fortunate to serve on what was Umpqua State Bank and then Umpqua Bank in the late 80’s and 90’s as a director!  It was a very positive experience, and I learned a lot about the banking industry as ...

Greetings: HOUSING MARKET PREDICTIONS FOR 2023: WILL HOME PRICES DROP? The simple answer is NO!   Even though the real estate market is in a correction phase right now with higher mortgage rates, the median home prices nationwide continue to climb by +3.5% to $370,000 (Comparing 2021/2022).  According to the National Association of Realtors, this is the 129th consecutive month of increasing home prices.  Many housing economists say, “This is simply a reflection of supply and demand because inventory continues to be tight!”  Even though nationwide existing home prices are up, existing homes sales have dropped -35.0% from a year ago.  There are not enough homes to sell, and builders are still playing catch up.  Nationally, we lack around 5+ million housing units ...

Greetings: IS THE HOUSING MARKET GOING TO CRASH? Now that the housing boom is threatened by rising mortgage rates and the possibility of a recession, buyers and homeowners are asking us every day, “Are we in for another crash?”  Certainly, there is a need to be concerned.  However, most housing economists predict that while our economy will take a hit, it will not be as drastic as before.  The decline in the housing market will be softened by low inventory, a lack of new construction, many new buyers, strict lending standards, and a drop in foreclosures.    The last time the market crashed (2007-2008) the average price of a home in Douglas County was near $115,000.  Since then, real estate prices have increased ...

Greetings: According to Laurance Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, “Inflation refuses to budge! ... In September, consumer prices rose 8.2%.  Rents rose by 7.2%, the highest in 40 years.”  Rent increases are expected to continue because housing starts did not stay up with population growth. Yun says, “The consequences are evident in rent growth and higher home prices.”  Even with an economic recession, the Federal Reserve is likely to raise the interest rates.  This will force many buyers out of the market, causing it to slow even more. The real estate market in Douglas County continues to change because of the increasing interest rates.   It is now predicted that interest rates may go as high as 7% before ...