Where are home prices in OR depressed the most? (Medford: homes, wages)

[Frihed89]

I saw on Yahoo.com that housing prices had taken a beating. I know the state very well, having lived on the E- and W-side in my youth. I am looking to relocate to the US after many years overseas.

Where have prices fallen the most?

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Home prices have fallen the most in the areas where they bubbled the most in the late 90's and early 00's: Bend, Medford, a few spots in the Willamette Valley.

[Silverfall]

Bend and Medford are the hardest hit.

[Nell Plotts]

Bend because of the bubble, Medford because of the implosion in the woods products industry.

[Frihed89]

Thanks. Bend is OK. I 've spent time there when I was living in WA State years ago.

[Nell Plotts]

That doesn't necessarily mean that the least expensive homes are in Bend. There are areas in the state where home prices didn't escalate a lot where a relatively smaller decline actually represents a greater value.

[Frihed89]

I understand. I actually think I'd prefer some place that is a bit warmer in the winter plus some "culture". Grants Pass-Medford-Ashland looks better, but more expensive to be sure. I spent a lot of time hunting in my youth between Walla Walla, the Blues and John Day. I'm sure it's still cheap to leave over there, but after a number of years in Europe, I've become soft-headed.

[Fiddlehead]

This is a tough question to answer. Certainly Bend and Medford seem to have cratered the most from 2006 prices, but they also had a tremendous runup over the five years previous, so they are not necessarily affordable, especially given the flat wages and downright economic meltdowns in both places. I will say in Ashland, things have dropped a lot, but I stll saw a realtor with a full page add of homes average a million or more. Crazy, but perhaps there are still retiring boomers from California and elsewhere that are still rolling in, or more likely, things have yet to settle out in such areas.

All I can conclude is look closely before you leap.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by Frihed89

Grants Pass-Medford-Ashland looks better, but more expensive to be sure.

Mmmmm...no. These are actually three very different communities that all have a distinctly different vibe and have widely ranging COL indices. Ashland is expensive (the other side of that coin is that properties there hold their investment value better than anywhere else in the Rogue Valley).
Grants Pass is actually quite affordable -- the very reason that it is so popular with retirees. If you're willing to wade through the frustrations of the REO market, there are amazing bargains available in Medford right now, higher-end homes in East Medford in particular.

[Frihed89]

Thanks, Brenda