Douglas County Real Estate Market Trends for 2026  Greetings: EXCITING NEWS!  The 21st Century Road to Housing Act (H.R. 6644) became law July 1st, 2026. The bill represents the largest bipartisan housing package in decades.  Some key provisions are:   1)    Restricts large institutional investors from acquiring additional single-family homes 2)    streamlines environmental reviews and regulatory processes 3)    supports manufactured and modular housing 4)    the bill raises the FHA mortgage limits 5)    allows up to $200 million to incentivize local governments and tribes to increase housing;  6)    enhances mortgage access for low and moderate-income buyers.  While immediate effects on home prices may be limited, the legislation sets the framework for long-term improvements in housing affordability across the United States.  NAR reports that existing home sales ...

Greetings:  Existing home sales increased nationally by +3.2% in May 2026. Month-over-month sales increased in the Northeast, Mid-west, and the South and were unchanged in the West. “More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest level since December. This is great news for the housing market and the economy,” said Chief Economist for the NAR, Dr. Lawrance Yun. “Improving affordability is helping drive this momentum. Even with mortgage rates ticking up compared to earlier this year, they are down slightly from a year ago. Will mortgage rates level off soon, that is anyone’s guess, according to many economists from the housing and mortgage industry.”   In May 2026, Oregon’s housing market saw home prices slightly down year-over-year, with ...

Greetings: Housing economists across the board are noting that the housing market is showing signs of a rebalance and a rebound in 2026.  Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, predicts that with interest rates falling and a growing inventory, “Buyers should be able to enter the market which will increase sales!” Robert Dietz, Chief Economist for the National Association of Home Builders, says, “That his members are increasing construction starts, and they are predicting about a 1% gain in single-family home building and a 1% gain in new-home sales.”  Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at realtor.com, is excited about the improvement in the affordability index. With home prices stabilizing and employment improving, more people will be able to buy a home. Zillow’s 2026 Housing ...

Douglas County Real Estate Market Trends for 2025 Greetings:  At the first of the year, the Trump administration granted government-backed lenders the authority to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, claiming that doing so will drive rates and monthly payments down. President Trump said that he was issuing that directive because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are flush with cash.  FHFA Director, Bill Pulte said in an interview with CNBC that, “This decision will come next month or two on a possible initial public offering of Fannie and Freddie.” The US Treasury has purchased mortgage bonds in the past during times of extreme turmoil, such as the housing crises in 2008 and 2009. According to the announcement, this strategy shall help with ...

Greetings:   In a recent hearing before the House Committee on Financial Services, former NAR President, Kevin Spears, testified about the status of the housing market in America.  He pointed out that, “The American Dream is slipping away.  Even though buyers want to buy a home, over 56% of them, can’t.” On the supply side, there were more homes to purchase in 1995 than today, even though more Americans are wanting to buy homes in 2025.  In July 2007, there were over 4,040,000 homes available for sale.  18 years later, there are only 1,520,000.  Housing construction peaked in 2005 with over 2 million starts compared to just 1,400,000 today.   Mr. Spears offered some solutions that Congress needs to consider: 1-removing the tax penalty ...

Greetings: WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE HOUSING GRIDLOCK? While there are many solutions offered, we have not seen much movement on the National scene or in Oregon either.  WE NEED A SYSTEMIC FIX-not just more money thrown at the problem.  According to a Allaire Conte, a real estate reporter, “There are 5 major Federal housing agencies and six different congressional committees that deal with housing issues and not one has authority over the bunch to steer the ship.”  In other words, there are too many cooks in the kitchen which leads to disfunction and discourse.  Congressman Mark Alford, (R-MO) recently introduced “The Saving the American Dream Act” which forces the Federal agencies to start working more closely together in a collaborative ...

Greetings: The real estate market nationwide continues to shift with rising inventory, fluctuating mortgage rates, and changing buyer dynamics, which is leading to a unstable market.  In Oregon and Douglas County this pattern is the same.  Rising inventory and overpriced listings has led to many price reductions that benefit buyers. We are slowly moving into more of a buyer’s market. Many sellers are also renting their houses because they are not selling.  We are witnessing a more balanced market in Douglas County with inventory down to 4.2 months from 5.7 months last month.  Many economists predict that mortgage rates will continue to remain over 6-7% in 2025 as the Federal Reserve fights to get our inflation rate around 2% or below.  ...

Greetings: Nationally, existing home sales ticked up by 0.8% from April to a seasonal adjusted rate of 4.03 million, a median sales price of $422,800, and 4.6 months of inventory in May 2025. Year over year, sales have declined 0.7%.  According to NAR Chief Economists Yun, “the relatively subdued sales are largely due to persistently high mortgage rates.” In the latest report by the Census Bureau, housing starts are at an annual adjusted rate of 1.256 million in May, its lowest level in over 5 years.  The simple fact is that we need more housing nationwide as well as in Oregon.  Nationwide, 28% of homebuyers decided to move to different areas with Florida leading the way, followed by Arizona, North and ...

Greetings: Amid Oregon’s housing crisis, the Oregon Senate passed a bipartisan bill to streamline housing development.  Under Senate Bill 974, local governments would have 90 days to make decisions on land use development applications for housing in urban areas.  “Cutting down the timeline to break ground is a game changer for families waiting for housing and builders ready to get to work,” said Senator Dick Anderson who led the bill.  He went on say that the passage of this legislation sends a clear message: “Oregon is ready to build!”  We will have to wait and see how receptive our local and county officials are to help the developers get more housing in our communities.  SB 974 has teeth because if local ...