'For sale' signs hanging out longer in front of area houses.

Byline: CHRISTIAN WIHTOL Register-Guard Business Editor

Three months ago, when Christine Irving decided to sell her manufactured home in Creswell, she stuck a for-sale-by-owner sign in the front lawn and sat back to wait for offers.

The result? In three months, one person stopped by for a look.

A couple of weeks ago, Irving - who is moving to Lincoln City - ramped up her effort, taking out newspaper ads for her 1,512-square-foot home on a 6,000-square-foot lot (asking price $123,600).

Since then, "I've had a few people call, but nobody has come to look at the house," she said.

As Irving is finding out, these times do not favor a casual approach to home sales.

Homes for sale in Lane County are sitting on the market considerably longer than they were just a year ago, according to data from the RMLS, the regional Realtor association that tracks sales.

For the August 2001 to January 2002 period, Lane County homes sat on the market an average of 15 weeks before selling, up from 12 weeks for the August 2000 to January 2001 period, according to RMLS data.

If there's a bit of a slowdown, it shouldn't be a surprise. Against the backdrop of a mild national recession, Lane County's economy is struggling, with widespread layoffs in the manufacturing sector pushing the jobless rate up to 8.3 percent in January. As of last month, the county had 13,700 unemployed, up 3,000 from January 2001.

Still, in the local residential real estate market, the statistics are a mixed bag. Days on the market are up, but home sales prices continue to appreciate modestly, and the sales volume is steady, RMLS data show.

Low interest rates appear to have balanced the waves of layoffs that began early last year, experts said.

While job cuts may have prompted some people to put their homes on the market, low interest rates are turning renters into buyers, said Kevin Simrin, past president of the Eugene Board of Realtors and a broker at REMAX Integrity in Eugene.

"As mortgage rates have got lower, we have opened up the pool of buyers," Simrin said.

"This is not necessarily a seller's market, or a buyer's market," he added. "It's very much an even market."

In 2001, the average sales price grew 3.15 percent, to $154,200, and the median sales price grew 2.4 percent, to $135,000, according to the RMLS.

Also, in 2001, there were 3,817 closed sales reported by RMLS in Lane County, up from 3,621 in 2000. In January 2002, there were 211 closed sales, virtually unchanged from 215 a year earlier.

Simrin says he doesn't see much on the horizon to change this relatively stable outlook. Prices are unlikely to appreciate more than 2 to 3 percent in the coming 12 months, and mortgage rates are likely to inch upward in the coming 24 months, as the national economy picks up, he said.

Residents looking to either buy or sell said they're having a tough time figuring out which direction the market is headed.

Danebo resident Kathy Emerson said she's hoping for the best. With her kids gone, she's on the lookout for a smaller home and she has just put her 1,250-square-foot home on the market for $126,400. She held an open house last weekend. The turnout - just five couples took a tour - didn't thrill her, but she said one couple seems very interested.

"We're hoping the market is strong," Emerson said.