Corvallis Oregon, Most Secure Small City in America

Apparently Corvallis is the place to be if you don't want to have to worry about things like terrorists, extreme weather or job loss. Farmers Insurance has ranked the security of small and large cities by looking at things like crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, environmental hazards, terrorism threats, air quality, life expectancy and job loss. I've been to Corvallis and I most certainly believe it. Local Boyz (Hawaiian food) should actually be your first reason to move there but security is a good second!

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http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/most-secure-us-places.html;_ylc=X3oDMTFqdXFzZzQxBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDOTc2MjA0NjUEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNtb3N0LXNlY3VyZQ--

Sustainable Portland

For the fourth year in a row, Portland, Oregon has been topping the list of most sustainable city in the United States. SustainLane.com has ranked the 50 biggest U.S. cities by their sustainability and Portland has been number one since the beginning (2005).

“Sustainable” is of course a term that is notoriously ambiguous, so you may want to check out their criteria on their website. They seem to be taking a wide variety of facets into account. Variables like commuting options, green spaces, local food sources, government innovations and disaster preparedness all add up to Portland being a fabulous place to live now, and in the future.

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/portland-again-tops-a-sustainable-cities-list/

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Market Report

August Residential Highlights



Market activity in the Portland metro area appears to have slowed in August, compared to the same period a year ago. Comparing August this year with that of August 2007, new listings dropped 27.1%. Closed sales were off last year’s pace by 30.7%, while pending sales also fell 22%. In a month - to - month comparison (July v. August 2008), new listings dropped 16% (4,398 v. 5,237). Closed sales were down 3.3% (1,770 v. 1,831) and pending sales decreased 4.7% (1,908 v. 2,003). At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,556 active residential properties would last approximately 9.9 months at the month’s rate of sales. This is down slightly from last month (10 months).



Year-to-Date



Comparing January-August 2008 with the same time in 2007, new listings decreased 5%. Pending sales and closed sales fell 30.8% and 33.9%, respectively.



Sale Prices



The average sale price for August 2008 was down 6.7% compared to August 2007, while the median sale price dropped 7.3%. See table below. Month-to-month, the average sale price and median sale price are both down when compared with July’s levels; the average sale price dropped 2.7% ($331,300 v. $340,500) and the median sale price was down 2.8% ($280,000 v. $288,200).

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& OUR NEW PORTLAND METRO BLOG AT http//:www.TonyandLibby.blogspot.com (make sure you leave comments)

Another Top 5 for Portland

Houses in Sunnyvale, Calif. are typically on the market for 66 days, making it the fastest-selling real estate market in the country. Sadly, that is more than double what it was a year ago when it was just 31 days on the market.

Buyers are in a "wait and see" state of mind no matter where they live. They know that houses isn't likely to go any where so they are waiting for prices to drop even more. Obviously some places are doing better than others but no area is exempt from the slow housing market. The cities with the strongest economies have a tendency to have the fastest selling markets. Cities like Portland OR, Seattle WA and Salt Lake City UT are examples of these high ranked selling markets.

Austin, Tex. is another high-tech center that comes in second at 68 days. Then San Diego where listings were typically 70 days old which is a dream compared to the 6 months you are looking at in Miami.

Middle-income neighborhoods are getting hit the worst. The tightening of the credit requirements has ended up turning away many would be buyers in the middle-income category. Those selling expensive homes don't have the same problem because the buyers generally have no problem qualifying. First-time home buyers, who are usually in the lower-income category, are finding deals right now so there is less of an issue there too.

The 10 Fastest-Selling Housing Markets in the U.S.

1. Sunnyvale, Calif. 94087
Days on the Market (DOM): 66 days
Median Price: $1.031 million
Annual Asking Price Change: -0.4%
Annual DOM Change: 46.6%

2. Austin, Tex. 78749
Days on the Market (DOM): 68 days
Median Price: $250,693
Annual Asking Price Change: -0.9%
Annual DOM Change: 19.0%

3. San Diego, Calif. 92131
Days on the Market (DOM): 70 days
Median Price: $771,025
Annual Asking Price Change: -9.7%
Annual DOM Change: 14.7%

4. Plano, Tex. 75075
Days on the Market (DOM): 75 days
Median Price: $185,589
Annual Asking Price Change: -2.8%
Annual DOM Change: 9.9%

5. Portland, Ore. 97202
Days on the Market (DOM): 77 days
Median Price: $395,877
Annual Asking Price Change: -1.1%
Annual DOM Change: 27.7%

6. Houston, Tex. 77094
Days on the Market (DOM): 77 days
Median Price: $351,803
Annual Asking Price Change: 6.7%
Annual DOM Change: 13.7%

7. Wakefield, Mass. 01880
Days on the Market (DOM): 79 days
Median Price: $429,485
Annual Asking Price Change: -7.3%
Annual DOM Change: 3.7%

8. Seattle, Wash. 98117
Days on the Market (DOM): 86 days
Median Price: $535,020
Annual Asking Price Change: -0.9%
Annual DOM Change: 34.2%

9. Littleton, Colo. 80130
Days on the Market (DOM): 90 days
Median Price: $378,420
Annual Asking Price Change: 6.6%
Annual DOM Change: 79.9%

10. Atlanta, Ga. 30340
Days on the Market (DOM): 91 days
Median Price: $217,285
Annual Asking Price Change: 5.5%
Annual DOM Change: 21.9%

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105707/Where-Homes-Are-Selling-Fastest

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Top 5 "Green" Cities

Portland Oregon has been listed in the top 5 "greenest" cities. Portland is in the Pacific Northwest and has more than 500,000 people. It has been a model of sustainable living for decades. They are recognized for smartly mixing urban and outdoor spaces.

Portland did not wait for it to become popular to be "green". Since its 1903 Portland has been leading by example to encourage cities to embrace green space in their urban planning. Thirty years ago Portland demolishing a six-lane highway to develop a waterfront park in its place. There are about 92,000 acres of green space, including 74 miles (119 km) of biking, hiking and running trails. Portland is one of the most bike friendly cities around. In fact about one quarter of commuters bike to work. It also has enacted an urban-growth boundary to contain the urban landscape and protect 25 million acres of forest and farms.

They were one of the first in the United States to enact a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and was a founding member of the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. Being a part of a greenest city list is nothing new for Portland and they plan to keep it that way. The city has 50 buildings that meet or exceed U.S. Green Building Council standards for sustainability. They have also set out to supply 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2010.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/five-amazing-green-cities.htm

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Buyer's Market

There is no doubt that we are in a buyer's market. A rock-bottom price just isn't enough for buyers these days; they're just getting warmed up. If you have your house on the market, offers are not pouring in and buyers know it. Demanding new furnaces, new carpet or new air conditioners is not out of the questions. In fact, there's a good chance the buyer will get it. Because the thing is, if one seller doesn't give it to them, the next will.

This is all on top of the closing costs that the sellers are forking over. Buyers were getting the short side of the stick a couple years ago where they were over paying and couldn't ask for anything, now it's their turn. Repaved driveways, one year home warranties and trips to Hawaii are practically being handed out.

Back in the days of the seller's market a buyer could not even make the purchase contingent upon the sale of their own home, the was just too much competition. A lot of people gave up their earnest money when they had to fall out of the deal.

Now buyer's are including all kinds of contingencies. Availability and cost of home insurance, availability of high speed internet and other services are some examples of contingencies buyer's would not have dreamed of in 2005. They were barely allowed a home inspection before, now it's radon, lead-based paint, roofs and fireplace inspections.

All this is after being negotiated down to the rock bottom price, sometimes way below what they had paid themselves.

Naturally the seller will be paying all the closing costs as well. Any seller who doesn't believe or doesn't know that it is a buyer's market will find out fast once negotiations start. They may even find out before that when no offers come in at all.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/29/real_estate/sellers_concessions_in_buyers_market/index.htm?postversion=2008082903

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