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Home prices continue to climb Home prices continue to climb as inventory stays limited. [Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch] Wednesday Apr 5, 2017 at 5:00 PM Apr 6, 2017 at 8:20 AM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness The upside for potential Jackson County home sellers is that sales prices are on a sharp incline. The headache for sellers, unless they plan to build or exit the Rogue Valley, is they might not find another place to buy. Local single-family median prices jumped 11.7 percent during the first quarter of 2017 to $245,750 from $220,000, according to figures compiled by Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service. Just 468 existing houses were sold during the first three months of the year, a 7.9 percent decline from the 508 residences sold in the first quarter of 2016. At the same time, the inventory of houses on the market tumbled 6.3 percent to 731. "Listings are gold right now," said Colin Mullane, an agent with Full Circle Real Estate in Ashland and spokesman for the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors. "What's there has been combed over, and the new stuff is going as soon as it hits the market." Just this week, he said, a house set to show the next day in Talent had agents already at the door. "Agents are doing everything they can to stay on top of the market," Mullane said. Sales have maintained strength at lower, mid and upper levels. "The inventory is shrinking, and sellers are enjoying this market with few exceptions," Mullane said. "But even a unique property has a little bit better of a chance right now. A well-market-priced $750,000 house in Ashland will go quickly." He bemoans that new construction won't fill the need anytime soon. A state report shows Oregon needed 24,000 new residences to keep up with demand, but just 2,400 were built in 2016. "That's 1/10th of what we need," Mullane said. Matthew Gardner, chief economist for Windermere Real Estate, said many small builders struggle to get financing, which hinders spec building. "If they have a model home, they're not going to sell it, but will tell buyers you can have one in four months," Gardner said. "We're not prepared to wait that long." He added that labor and land costs have piled up on builders, as well. "That puts pressure on the resale market," Gardner said. "It becomes a chicken-and-egg thing — I won't list my house until I find something I want to buy. It goes into a vicious cycle." The median sales price for a rural property rose $365,000, up 20.1 percent from a year ago. — Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31.