Between mid 2004 and February 2011, like most areas of the US, the Eugene/Springfield real estate market soared to unprecedented heights, and then crashed alarmingly.

The question I hear frequently is “have we hit the bottom yet?” We really won’t know when the turnaround comes until it is a few months behind us, but some factors are encouraging. Since the low point of the market in February, average sale price spiked up to over $220, 000 and is now on it’s way back down for the winter. Time will tell if we hit the previous low. The current average sale price as of  November 2011 is  $191,700.

Another indicator of real estate market health is the level of available inventory in months.

Inventory in months is calculated by dividing the active listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for the month. As the chart at left shows, residential inventory levels have been more stable in 2011 than they were in 2010. Typically inventory levels higher than seven months indicate that we are in a buyers market, and levels below four months suggest a sellers market.

Historically, residential real estate has been a great investment, and thanks to the current low interest rates, today’s buyers are getting into the market at an opportune time.

Source: RMLS

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