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Housing market goes through the roof Photo by Bob Pennell Shawn Grigsby of Eagle Point frames the roof of a Jacksonville house on newly developed Nunan Street. Grigsby says the house may sell for about $275,000. Jacksonville's urban home sale prices rose dramatically in 1999. Jacksonville home prices continue dramatic rise By DAVID PRESZLER JACKSONVILLE -- Longtime real estate agent Sally Bell faced a difficult task last weekend. She had a couple from the Bay Area in town who were looking for their first house. The problem: They wanted it to be in Jacksonville, where starter homes are hard to come by. The lowest-priced one they found was $142,900. What about finding a $100,000 house? Mail Tribune photo / Bob Pennell One of the newest housing developments in Jacksonville is the Jackson Creekside Townhouses. "You can't," says Bell, an agent with Windermere Investors Marketplace who has worked in the Jacksonville market for 20 years. ``You can find a $100,000 lot." Urban home sale prices in Jacksonville rose dramatically in 1999, according to Roy Wright Appraisal Service. The average price rose more than twice the countywide urban price average, climbing 12.1 percent to $200,137. The countywide average urban price was up 6 percent to $148,148. The rapid rise vaulted Jacksonville past Ashland as the city with the most expensive homes in Jackson County. Ashland's average price for 1999 was up 5 percent to $198,738. A statistical caveat is warranted. Jacksonville had just 79 home sales in 1999, while Ashland had 427. Average sale prices can be skewed by a few high-end purchases, and the fewer sales, the more easily skewed such statistics can be. But there's no denying the Jacksonville real estate market is cooking. The 79 sales were a 54 percent increase from 1998 when 51 urban homes changed hands. "It's wonderful," says Dan Mollahan, Coldwell Banker Pro West's leading producer in Jacksonville. "It's probably the hottest market in the Rogue Valley right now." Mollahan and Bell say buyers are attracted by the city's quaint, small-town character as well as its shopping and dining options. The biggest problem they've had selling buyers on the city is the lack of houses on the market. "We don't have a lot of product," says Bell, estimating that there are two dozen for sale. That tight demand is clearly playing a role in the higher prices. New construction aimed at meeting that demand is also playing a role. Single-family building permits rose from 42 in 1998 to 50 last year, according to city officials. A building moratorium that lasted the better part of two decades ended in 1996, spawning several new developments. "They've had a few developments that have been allowed to do some building and they've been selling," says Rich Humphrey, who oversees Coldwell Banker's residential sales. "Anything you can build in Jacksonville, you're pretty assured you can sell." The city has required new construction to meet strict standards in order to preserve the town's historical feel. That has encouraged higher quality -- and thus higher priced -- construction. Take the shared-wall houses that Russ Dale has built and is building in the 28-unit Jackson Creekside development of F Street. Though they are only 1,500 to 1,600 square feet, they are priced at $165,000 to $195,000 range -- and selling. "I call them BMWs," says Dale. "They are small, compact and high-quality." A dozen that have been finished are already sold and occupied. Three more finished houses have sales pending and the rest are under construction. Construction is also underway on Nunan Square, the largest subdivision in Jacksonville's history. Developer Scott Goings plans to build 63 houses over the next three years that will range in price from $150,000 for smaller, shared-wall houses to $400,000 for large, custom-designed Victorian style homes. Work has started on a half dozen houses. Three have already sold, two for more than $200,000 and the third for more than $300,000. Goings says the city's requirements have made his development better, though they are driving prices up. But builders and real estate agents alike say the higher quality homes are what buyers want, as evidenced by last year's strong sales showing. "It's dynamite," says Dale of the market. "It's not a place for someone who wants to do stick-them-up, tract houses." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA