I bring you tidings of great joy! That is if you are Lake Oswego homeowner, or if you are looking to buy a home in Lake Oswego.

First if you own a home in Lake Oswego.

If you find yourself dreaming of making money in your sleep, it could be because you are. The value of your home continues to go up. We have seen an increase of 21.1% in the average price of homes sold in Lake Oswego over this past year to-date. The average sales price of a home in Lake Oswego by the end of October was $1,194,250. That compares to the year-to-date average sales price in October of 2020 of $986,190.

Condominiums and townhomes have seen an 18.2% annual increase over 2020 with the average sales price by the end of October being $434,967.

And if you’ve listed your home, there is a very good chance it sold in 2021. In October there were 57 new listings in Lake Oswego and 53 homes sold with only 0.8 months of inventory available. That explains the fact that most homes for sale in Lake Oswego only spend about 21 days on the market.

I’m still seeing a great deal of activity in the market; however, the frenzy of earlier in the year has been replaced by a little more level headedness.

That’s where we get to the good news for buyers.

Yes, I know you have to wade through the record appreciation and limited inventory to find it, but there is some to be had.

First of all, when you do buy a home in Lake Oswego, you can feel good about your investment because if you look at the trend in value overall, you’ll see that even in buyer’s markets, homes in Lake Oswego continue to appreciate. Currently, the average yearly change is +6.1% and that’s accounting for the housing market crash back in 2008 when values dropped 29% over the next three years. So, in the long run, you too will make money while you sleep.

Also, it looks as though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will increase their loan limits in the near future, making it easier for buyers in more expensive markets like Lake Oswego to get a mortgage. The current conventional loan limits for single-family homes are $548,250 and $822,375 respectively and they are expected to rise to a baseline of $650,000 to close to $1 million in high-cost markets like San Francisco and New York.  

Above that, buyers need to qualify for jumbo loans which typically require a larger down payment and can result in higher closing costs. Interest rates however, don’t always have to be higher with a jumbo loan and in fact, some lenders can offer jumbo loan rates that are competitive with and/or even beat out conventional loan rates, depending on the market conditions. It pays to shop around when you’re looking for your loan. I can be a resource for you in that department when you start your home search.

So, there you have it! If buying or selling your home in Lake Oswego is on your holiday wish list, I think you are in for a very merry season. And if I can do anything to help ensure that, please give me a call at 503.939.9801, email me at costellok@hasson.com and/or check out my website.