And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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Local Information for Medford, OR

Latitude: 42.331998 -- Longitude: -122.861874

Other Area Cities: Medford Ashland Central Point

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Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It was named in the 1880s by David Loring, a civil engineer working for the Oregon and California Railroad for his home town of Medford, Massachusetts. As of 2005, the city had a total population of 70,860. It is the county seat of Jackson CountyGR6. It is also believed that Medford was named for the intersection of the railroads, running north to south, and Main Street, running east to west. The original name being Middleford, it was shortened to Medford shortly after its founding.[citation needed] -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Oregon 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Medford	Oregon	United States
Population	63,154	3,421,399	281,421,906
Median age	37	36.3	35.3
Median age for Male	35.3	35.1	34
Median age for Female	38.5	37.5	36.5
Households	25,093	1,333,723	105,480,101
Household population	61,869	3,343,908	273,643,273
Average household size	2.47	2.51	2.59
Families	16,518	877,671	71,787,347
Average family size	2.99	3.02	3.14
Housing units	26,297	1,452,709	115,904,641
Occupied units	25,093	1,333,723	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,204	118,986	10,424,540

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