TEENAGERS ARE ROTTEN AND SO IS REAL ESTATE

                        Years ago, when I was a junior high school principal, people always asked me, “How can you stand working with these teenagers today?” I soon found myself becoming a public advocate for teens because the reality defied the stereotype. The fact was that five per cent or less of my school’s population were the chronic “bad kids” in the school. That meant that the overwhelming majority of teenagers were really good kids and they were getting a bad rap for the actions of a few of their peers.

            Ok, you know where I am going with this. Yes, we have had some mercurial turns for the worse in the real estate market nationwide. Yes, in Douglas County, Oregon, we are in a buyer’s market with a large inventory to choose from. But is that really a bad thing?

            Roseburg and Douglas County Oregon in general, seems to have weathered the jumbo loan collapse fairly well. Currently, less than one percent of loans are in foreclosure and only 1.39% of loans are seriously delinquent. So home owners can pat themselves on the back for being responsible and local lenders can too for not pushing jumbo loans on unqualified clients.

            Sellers had to have an attitude adjustment when the market changed from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market starting in 2005. They are starting to understand that prices are now becoming REAL market value versus what they want to sell it for. In a sellers market, prices can be overinflated. That won’t work now in this market. The market will determine the price, not the seller or the buyer.

            So is real estate rotten now in Douglas County? Let’s look at some other statistics. Interest rates are still averaging around 6%. If you bought property in Douglas County in 1991, you thought you had a great loan rate at 8%. If you bought property in Douglas County in 1981, you could plan on paying whopping 18% interest on a conventional loan!!!.

            With interest rates still low (financial forecasts predict rates will slowly climb up this year because of global inflation trends) and homes priced far lower than in 2005, I think real estate is still a great deal, whether for your personal home or investment. One thing for sure, both real estate and teenagers still get clobbered in the media. It’s always best to look beyond those stereotypes.