Why Eugene Has One of the Lowest Inventories of Available Housing
Good Morning!
Eugene's recent housing market is currently seeing record low number of homes on the market for sale. In fact, the inventory right now is less than two months and second lowest in the nation. The price range of homes that is hardest hit by this shortage is those that are at or below the median sales price of around $265,000. This is the price range that most young families and first time home buyers are in. The housing shortage has created some severe problems in our area as the shortage continues to drive home prices higher, making them less affordable. Home price increases have outpaced the increase in income for our local area and as a result have actually pushed many first time home buyers completely out of the market or pushed them into price prices where there are low inventory and high demand.
Why does Eugene have one of the lowest inventories of available housing?
One major culprit is the fact that city and county land planners have refused to extend the urban growth boundary for Eugene. This has caused a dire shortage of building lots and the shortage has lead to huge price increases for the existing lots. The result of this is lack of new construction, which has fallen well below demand and has lead to a very high price for any new construction. The urban growth boundary freeze is the primary culprit for low inventories and non-affordable housing, especially for young families and first-time home buyers. As available lots become even more scarce the cost of housing continues to skyrocket and the affordability factor continues to decline. This is not a healthy situation for any community.
Right now, City and County land planners are again refusing to expand the urban growth boundary for residential in Eugene. This means a continuation of lot shortages, high priced lots, housing shortages and non-affordable housing for Eugene. This refusal to extend the urban growth boundary for residential has choked our community for years and now during a time of crisis in the local housing market the planners refuse to help remedy our problem.
If you are concerned with the current housing crisis in Eugene, then I urge you to contact both county and city land planners and express your concern. The failure to create affordable housing in Eugene will continue to choke our economy and drive our young families to other cities.
Have An Awesome Week!
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The number of for-sale listings fell again in December to the lowest level since 1999, according to the National Association of Realtors. There were just 1.65 million homes for sale at the end of December, which at the current sales pace would take only about 3 ½ months to exhaust. A normal, balanced market has about a six-month supply. This, as the busy spring market is already on the verge of starting. "To say early buyer demand is strong in early 2017 is an understatement — it is titanic. Redfin data shows that buyers are out touring in droves, ready to pounce on new listings that fit the bill," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin. "The only thing missing is homes for sale to satisfy demand because there just aren't a lot of homes available to buy right now. We are in a real estate black hole until those listings show up again."
1471 Barrington Ave
