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Buying first home grows harder Mail Tribune photo / Bob Pennell Lem Babb, left, and Scott McCaw frame the roof of a new home Tuesday in a Central Point subdivision called New Haven Estates. The median value of a Central Point home climbed 92 percent in the past decade, from $65,100 to $125,300. Median family income, however, rose just 34 percent, to $44,849. New figures from the most-detailed census form show how tough it's become By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune It's no news to Andrea Hartley that rising home prices far outpaced income gains in Jackson County during the 1990s. Hartley and her fianc�, David Polendy, both 21, dreamed of buying their first home in Medford before their August wedding. What they didn't realize was that the median value of a Medford home is now $132,400, an increase of 85 percent during the last decade, according to a new rollout of 2000 U.S. Census figures. With what she earns as a receptionist and what he earns as a night-shift timber worker - about $48,000 a year combined - the pair soon discovered they'd have to look elsewhere. "The house we found in White City is three-bedroom, two-bath, very clean," said Hartley. "In Medford, we couldn't find anything we could afford. It makes it really hard to find your first home." That refrain echoes across Jackson County, where newly released figures show housing values skyrocketed past gains in median family income during the previous decade. The so-called census "long form" was mailed to about one in six households and asked 53 detailed questions on education, housing, ethnic background, languages spoken and income. Countywide, median family income grew to $43,675, up 46 percent from $29,800 a decade earlier. In Medford, the gain was 40 percent, up to $43,972 from $31,332. In Oregon, median family income was $48,680, up from $32,336. The highest incomes in the county were recorded in Jacksonville, where median income grew to $57,333, up 67 percent from $34,205 a decade earlier. Lowest figures were posted in Butte Falls, where median income rose to $30,132, up 36 percent from $22,083. At the same time, however, the median housing value rose 87 percent in Jackson County, to $140,000, up from $74,900. Selected cities in the county saw gains of near or over 100 percent. The median value of a home in the state grew 126 percent, from $67,100 in 1990 to $152,100 in 2000. "What's happened is it's getting really, really hard for first-time homebuyers," said Claudette Moore, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Pro West Real Estate. "I'm still doing it, but finding a house they can afford that will qualify for a loan is a hard thing." Second- and third-time buyers benefited from the rise in values and continued low interest rates, Moore noted. A decade ago, interest rates hovered at 10 or 11 percent, compared to the current and holding rates of about 7 percent. "They've been doing good because of equity," she said. Jacksonville posted the top median housing value in the county with $194,700. That was a gain of 119 percent, up from $88,900 a decade earlier. Close behind on percentage gain was Eagle Point, where values rose 110 percent to $116,400, up from $55,500, and Butte Falls, where median value rose 104 percent to $78,300, up from $38,300. Other notable gains were in Talent, where median value rose 96 percent to $114,900, up from $58,700, and in Central Point, where median value rose 92 percent to $125,300, up from 65,100 a decade ago. "That's insane!" said Hartley, who lives in Talent while waiting for her White City house to clear escrow. "I knew it had gone up, but not by that much." In White City, where Hartley and her fianc� expect to pay about $109,000 for a 1984-vintage home, the median value of housing is $88,900, up from $49,300 a decade ago. The difference between rising housing values and more modest income gains doesn't disturb Moore, a Medford City Council member. The region has weathered the decline of the timber industry and sidestepped the technology bust, she said. "What you should do is buy real estate in Southern Oregon because it's a gold mine," Moore said. "And I don't think it's going to stop." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.