Jackson County housing prices are still edging up, but sellers can't expect to necessarily get more than what they paid for their homes a year ago.

The recent slowdown in Southern Oregon real estate activity reflects the normal pace before the four-year run-up that has seen home values more than double in some areas, said a long-time local real estate agent.

"We had a dip from a really strong market for four years and we're returning to a more normal pattern," said Rick Harris, of Coldwell Banker Pro West Real Estate's Ashland office. "It's always a challenge when you're looking at statistics in a vacuum. Look at the difference in interest rates (now well above 6 percent) — they were still low last June and then we began hearing of a softening market in places like Southern California and Las Vegas. Those things have filtered through to our market."

Yet, even as the number of transactions is down more than a third through the first six months of 2005, Jackson County's single-family residence median sales prices have climbed. The median sales price for 239 home sales in June was $300,500, up 12 percent year-over-year, according to figures compiled by appraiser Roy Wright of Medford.

The median price is the middle point for sales, with half of the homes selling for more and half for less.

"The reason the median prices are going up is that when you have fewer sales, the pool of buyers is not as dependent on interest rates and are going to have more cash," Harris said. "It's a good thing in every market, from Ashland and Jacksonville to the less expensive markets. But the more modest end of all those markets is slower because they're more sensitive to interest rates."mber

Ashland saw an 11 percent gain to $435,000 in the median sales price on 44 transactions in June.

East Medford, which saw a nearly 2 percent decline in median price in May, stormed back with an 18 percent median gain to $329,700 in June. As Wright points out, the slowing trend appears to be near the bottom with transactions down just 5 percent from last year. Despite rapidly increasing inventories, more than 350 percent above the 2005 level, west Medford prices eased up 6 percent to $244,000.

Central Point activity remains cool with inventories nearly triple what they were in mid-2005. But the year-over-year median price rose 3 percent to $246,500.

While activity fell nearly 45 percent, the median price of a home in the Phoenix-Talent area climbed 9.1 percent to $283,500. Rural transactions dropped by a third, but the median price climbed 12 percent to $364,000 and the days on market for those homes declined slightly to 97.

The number of new home sales continued to decline, with the pace falling more than 41 percent. But apparently that can be attributed to the lower end of the market, because the median price for 206 new homes going through the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service system was $339,950, up nearly 16 percent. The turn-around time for those homes, however, extended nearly a month to 118 days.

Eagle Point was the lone holdout in the county's major urban areas, with the median price plunging 24 percent to $219,500. However, Wright noted the decrease was more a reflection of the size of home being sold rather than a sharp decline in value. The median home sale for a similar period in 2005 was 2,080 square feet. Last month, the median square foot home was 1,336 square feet.

"That is a 35 percent reduction in size," Wright said. "Or as a Realtor would say, the price per square foot increased from $139 to $164 per square foot. The main point here is that smaller, less expensive homes are selling this year."

Harris said there is a key difference between investors who bought property to flip it quickly during the rising national market and those who buy property here in preparation for retirement.

"My sense is that a lot of the people who come here to retire stake a claim in our town while they are still working so they can afford it when they retire."

Those homes are rentals for some time, but ultimately become owner-occupied.

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or at business@mailtribune.com