Swift housing market quickens.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

Homes in Lane County are selling faster than at any time in the past seven years. And prices continue to rise in a market that's buzzing like a barrel of rattlesnakes.

Houses stayed on the market an average of 43 days in June, reports RMLS Inc., the Portland firm that provides the multiple listing service in the county.

In 2004, homes were on the market an average of 55 days, according to the service, which has tracked sales data in the area since July 1998.

But many homes sell within a few days, even hours, said Skye Schuttpelz, a broker with Century 21 Best Realty in Eugene.

"This is the craziest I've ever seen it," Schuttpelz said. "It's a quick, fast-paced market."

Some buyers act swiftly and offer more than the listed price because they worry they may be priced out of the market if they wait, she said.

Schuttpelz showed a home to a man last Saturday morning. By 1 p.m. that day, they presented the owner an offer. Thirty minutes later, they were standing in a parking lot signing the contract, she said.

"Buyers have got to be prequalified and ready to buy," she said.

The county's median sale price in June was $192,400, up from $160,000 one year ago, the listing service reported this week. Median price means half the houses sold for more than that amount, half for less.

The median price in the 12 months that ended in June was $172,500, a 12 percent increase over the previous 12 months.

The average sales price - a number that can be skewed high by a few luxury homes - shot up in June, reaching $233,800 in the county. That's an 8 percent increase over May and a 25 percent increase over June 2004. And it's a whopping $100,000 more than in mid-'98.

Sales of high-end homes may be pulling the average price well above the median, said Tim Duy, adjunct assistant professor of economics at the University of Oregon.

"Anyone who builds a house now in Eugene has an incentive to build on the high end. That's where there's more margin," Duy said.

A low supply of buildable land in Eugene and, to a lesser extent, Springfield, is driving up land prices and housing costs, said Rob Breeden, co-owner of Breeden Homes in Eugene.

"That's why we see less and less lower priced homes," Breeden said.

The red-hot market in Eugene-Springfield is fueled by a swarm of buyers, fierce competition for the supply of properties for sale, relatively low interest rates and new financing options luring more people into the market.

It also reflects what is happening across the country. The National Association of Realtors this week raised its forecast for the housing sector, saying sales of existing and new homes would set an even bigger all-time record this year.

Existing home sales are expected to rise 2.8 percent to 6.97 million. Last month, the trade group predicted 6.89 million sales. The record was 6.78 million in 2004.

New-home sales should increase 3.2 percent, to 1.24 million in 2005, also a record, the Realtors said.

Lane County's housing inventory improved slightly in June but remains the tightest it has been in years. Active residential listings at the end of the month were 904, up from 788 at the end of May. At the current rate of sales, the inventory would last 1.8 months.

New listings totaled 670 in June, up from 587 in May. For the year, new listings exceed 3,300, slightly below last year's pace. Sales are a little ahead of where they were in the first half of 2004.

It isn't clear if speculative buying - purchases of second homes and investment properties - is inflating prices locally, Duy said. Another factor may be a wave of people, including retirees, moving to the area after selling homes in high-priced markets in California and other states, he said.

"That not speculative," he said. "That's just supply and demand."

Breeden said he does not see signs of speculative buying here and thinks there is a low risk of a bubble developing in the local real estate market. "The market is very tight. It could stay tight for a long time," he said.