Fall home sales in the Rogue Valley were down more than 17% compared to the same time period last year, and the number of homes on the market at the end of November was down 9%.

A rare bright spot in the Rogue Valley housing market this fall wasn’t a city, however, at least not in terms of incorporation.

The unincorporated area of White City’s fall 2023 median home price was $330,000, which is up 1.5% from last year and up 7.9% from two years ago, according to a market report issued Wednesday by the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service and the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors.

The median price for White City homes sold between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30 puts White City $10,000 above west Medford. The median price for existing homes in Medford’s 97501 ZIP code was $320,000, a drop of 6.4% from last year.

Real estate broker Scott Lewis, a director of the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors and past president of Southern Oregon MLS, attributed part of White City’s growing home prices to new construction in the unincorporated area, including a new townhouse project.

“And they’re selling,” Lewis said, noting that his data show that transaction prices for the White City townhomes are about 96% of the asking price.

“I think it may be among the most affordable new construction in the Rogue Valley,” Lewis added. “People are paying good money for homes in White City.”

White City is also bucking a low-inventory trend in the Rogue Valley’s real estate market, the numbers show. Active listings across Jackson County as of Nov. 30 were 672, a 9.1% drop from the same date last year. White City’s listings, however, grew by 150% from 12 to 30 listings.

“There’s a lot of new construction in White City, and I think that’s helping,” Lewis said.

Across Jackson County, rising interest rates were not enough to keep the median home price from inching closer to the $400,000 mark. The median home price for the county rose to $398,250 during the quarter between September through November, up 0.8% from the $395,000 in the same three months last year and up 3.4% from the year before.

Further, the homes that sold averaged fewer days on the market. Existing homes fell to a median of 22 days between September and November, which was three days shorter than the same three months last year. Lewis said the numbers may appear “a little counterintuitive” at a time when 30-year fixed mortgage rates continue to rise.

Supply, however, is outweighing other factors limiting demand. Lewis pointed to numbers showing residential inventory across Jackson County down 9.1% from 672 homes listed on Nov. 30 compared to 739 listings for the same date last year.

“We’ve got opposing things going on right now: we have high interest rates and low inventory,” Lewis said.

Median home prices in east Medford’s 97504 ZIP code rose 0.6% to $425,000. The area had the largest share of Jackson County’s urban homes on the market at of the end of November with 134 listings. The number of listings was down six from the same time last year.  

Other areas that saw significant increases in median home prices from last year included Phoenix, up 15.2% to $440,000; Eagle Point was up 13.9% to $437,250; and Jacksonville rose 13.5% to $737,500.

Lewis said Jacksonville’s significantly higher median price is explained by a small pool of 16 sales and at least one expensive property that weighed the averages.

“I sold a luxury home in Jacksonville, so I may be responsible,” Lewis said.

Areas that saw declines in their median prices from last year included Talent, down 21.6% to $354,500; Shady Cove dropped 8.8% to $335,000; Gold Hill and Rogue River were 5.4% to $350,000; and Ashland dipped 3.1% to $515,750.

Another growth area in the Rogue Valley is rural homes, which saw median prices increase 7.9% from last year to $655,000. Some 115 rural homes were sold September through November, down one from this time last year.

Lewis said that in his experience working in rural properties, buyers are typically a little older than the typical first-time buyer, and they typically have specific goals — but not always farming. Some buyers may want horses, and others want “just some elbow room” while still being relatively close to shopping and services.

“We do see big city refugees,” Lewis said. 

There were 438 existing urban homes sold in the same three months, down 17.4% from last year and down more than 40% from from the 755 sold in 2021.

When asked whether its a good time to buy or sell, Lewis said, “I think it is.” 

“I tend to look at the long-term view,” Lewis said, adding that population projections show that the Rogue Valley is growing and that he believes the region’s way of life will keep the momentum going.

“We sell people on the community,” Lewis said. “It doesn’t suck to live here.”

Although mortgage rates are rising, Lewis said that “historically 8% is the average,” and he added that those who lived through the housing market of the early 1980s paid significantly higher interest rates.

“They will tell you they remember paying 18%, and homes were still being bought and sold,” Lewis said.