Rates Ease to 7.24%: A Late-October Market Update for the Mid-Willamette Valley

Here is the market picture as October comes to a close: the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.24 percent for the week ending October 29, according to Freddie Mac, down from 7.32 percent the week before. That is the second straight weekly dip, and it arrives as fall inventory keeps building across the Mid-Willamette Valley. Rates are still a real cost, but after months of climbing, the direction is finally worth paying attention to.

Rates: a second straight weekly dip

The 30-year fixed held at 7.40 percent two weeks ago, eased to 7.32 percent last week, and averaged 7.24 percent for the week ending October 29, with the 15-year fixed averaging 6.60 percent. Two consecutive declines do not make a trend, and nobody can promise where rates go next, but this is the first stretch in a while that has pointed down instead of up. For buyers watching from the sidelines and for sellers wondering what the next buyer's payment looks like, it is a small but real shift.

The Valley numbers: fall inventory keeps building

The bigger story is supply. In Corvallis, September's median listing price came in at $623,479, down about 2.9 percent from August, with 286 active listings across the city. At the end of the third quarter there were 161 active residential listings on less than an acre, compared with 89 a year earlier, plus another 30 on larger parcels, and Corvallis now runs at roughly 3.6 to 4.9 months of supply depending on the source, up from about 2.2 months a year ago. That is a meaningfully different market than the one we saw through most of the past two years.

Albany shows a similar pattern at a lower price point: the six-month median sale price sits near $425,000, down about 4 percent from a year ago, with roughly 149 active listings and about 3.5 months of supply. Salem is the most buyer-friendly of the three right now, with the six-month median sold price near $438,000, supply at about 5.4 months, up nearly 9 percent year over year, and roughly 1,200 active listings citywide.

What this means for buyers

More inventory, more time to compare homes, and two straight weeks of rate relief. The buyers doing well right now are the ones who know their monthly number before they start touring, because every eighth of a point changes what a given price costs per month.

I worked through the monthly math on a typical Valley home in this article .

To see what the extra supply looks like yourself, browse current listings across the Valley .

What this means for sellers

Homes priced against this month's comparable sales and presented well are still moving; homes priced at last spring's level sit longer. With supply up across the Valley, the margin for overpricing is thinner than it has been in years. The other side of that coin: fewer sellers list in November and December, so a well-prepared home can face less competition right now than it will in the spring rush.

If you are weighing whether to list now or wait, I walk through the timing question in this article , and I am glad to help you think through your own situation.

Get the numbers for your home

These are market-wide figures, and every neighborhood is its own market. If you want to know what your place is actually worth today, or what the market looks like for the home you want to buy, that is exactly the kind of conversation I am here for.

If you would like the numbers for your own home, request a free home value .

Or start a conversation directly, and I will get back to you with a straight answer. No pressure, just the numbers.