BUSINESS NEWS
Coast River Business Journal
June 2020 • 9
Amid pandemic, Clatsop houses selling at a feverish pace
Story by Edward Stratton
EO Media Group
estratton@dailyastorian.com
CLATSOP COUNTY — Real estate on the
North Coast, an industry sucker-punched like
most others during the coronavirus pandemic
and the economic restrictions meant to stop its
spread, kept growing hotter in May amid one of
the nation’s tightest housing markets.
With a stay-at-home orders in effect and
most families sheltering at home, relatively few
houses were put up for sale in May. New listings
were down 37% from the year prior, sales down
40% and pending sales down 13%. Listed homes
spent 134 days on the market, 28% up from the
year prior. But those in the real estate industry
described a market as hot as ever.
“Even though the economy stopped because
of covid, real estate didn’t really stop,” said
Debbie Morrow, an executive officer of the
Clatsop Association of Realtors who oversees its
multiple listing service. “Every day, I think we’ve
had new listings. June 1, for example, we had 19
listings come on the market. I think the way real
estate brokers are engaged has changed. In other
words, they’re using technology a lot more.”
Nearly 120 employees in the real estate
and rental leasing industry in Clatsop County
have filed claims for unemployment since the
pandemic began. But most have been office
support staff furloughed as real estate agents
work more from home. Morrow said no real estate
agents, classified as independent contractors,
have reached out about accepting unemployment
benefits.
Like many agents, Ann Westerlund of Re/
Max River & Sea has taken to giving virtual
tours, donning gloves and booties as she answers
questions for potential buyers.
“We had to do a lot of virtual tours, because
a lot of people weren’t wanting to go into other
people’s houses,” Westerlund said. “And then
you have the sellers who wouldn’t want other
people going into their houses as well.”
Very little affodability
Despite any changes in how homes are
shown, the scarcity of available housing,
combined with favorable mortgage rates, still
drove the average price of a home in May to
more than $465,000, 11% over the year prior.
The median sales price — half sold for more
and half for less — was $369,500 this May,
about 5% more than the year prior. The median
is sometimes considered a better gauge, since it
dampens the effect a few high-priced properties
can have in driving up the average.
As of early June 4, there were more than
190 listings. But fewer than 30 of them were
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But many new developments are still
turning out homes above what most first-time
buyers can afford. Roosevelt, a new subdivision
being built near the North Coast Retail Center,
and Reed Ranch, another being built out along
U.S. Highway 101 south of Warrenton, are both
targeted for above $300,000 a home.
for $300,000 or less, a testament to the seller’s
market that remains on the North Coast.
“Out inventory is very, very low,” Morrow
said. “And inventory is going to drive prices.”
A recent housing study by Clatsop County
showed that around 1,500 new housing units
would be needed by 2038, about two-thirds for
owners and one-third for renters. Much of the
home ownership demand is driven by second and
vacation homeowners, who continue to flood the
North Coast market from afar.
“I’m seeing a lot of people coming from out
of state,” Westerlund said. “I’m seeing a lot from
Seattle area. I’m seeing a lot from California,
Idaho, wanting that second home or to move here
to be owner-occupied.”
Westerlund feels frustrated by not being able
to help first-time buyers with fewer resources be
able to find a decent starter home for less than
$300,000.
“It’s hard for the young folks, because they
get snatched up so fast,” she said.
Westerlund was hopeful that new
developments such as Blue Heron Pointe, a 59-
unit subdivision being planned by developers
Bruce and Max Ritchie along Wahanna Road in
the foothills of eastern Seaside, will add to the
inventory. The Ritchies are planning the homes
there to be between the “low $300,000 and high
$200,000” range, they told the Seaside Planning
Cost of Building
Pam Ackley, a veteran broker with
Windemere Real Estate and a Warrenton city
commissioner, points to the costs of building as
the culprit.
“We don’t have anything new under”
$300,000, Ackley said of new construction.
“There’s no land that is reasonable to be able to
build (on) at that price point. And I don’t know
that there’s going to be a whole heck of a lot of it
coming up anywhere either.”
Ackley said the Warrenton City Commission
has discussed the idea of a community land trust
similar to Na Hale O Maui, a nonprofit affordable
housing project in Hawaii that broke ground last
year. Homes in the development are for residents
earning 80 to 120% of the area median income.
“There’s been talk of a community land
trust of some kind to try and get public money
involved, but there hasn’t seemed to be any
movement in that direction,” Ackley said.
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