Q1 2020 Central Oregon Housing Market: In Review

The Central Oregon housing market ended 2019 with a strong showing. Early in the first quarter of 2020, the market appeared to be following a similar seasonal trend with lower sales volumes in the winter months that gradually start to increase as the “buying season” begins.

COVID-19 impacts on the Central Oregon housing market are affecting buyers and sellers, brokers and bankers, and many others in significant ways. We are starting to see early data quantifying the daily reality for those most affected.

Nationally the volume of sales has decreased by 20% from last year. If this trend continues, it should stabilize market prices as the supply of listings (absorption) decreases as new listings drop faster than sales volume. Central Oregon has largely followed national trends—although the decrease in sales volume over the last six weeks has been 10%, compared to 20% nationally. The volume of new listings decreased by 39% in April compared to 2019 but doesn’t follow the national pattern of listing price impacts.

In Central Oregon, the lowest-priced homes have seen the largest reduction in listing activity (50+%) compared to 2019, which is the opposite of the national trend where the highest-priced homes had the largest reduction in listing activity. As the economy begins reopening over the next several months, the number of months of inventory (absorption) will be an important leading indicator for prices for the remainder of the year.

{Source: Central Oregon Association of REALTORS® – full report below}