RMLS Most Available Data For This 2009 Reporting Period

APRIL HIGHLIGHTS

Same month pending sales activity increased for the first time since April 2007 in Greater Lane County. Pending sales were up 8.2% when comparing April 2009 with April 2008 (see pending sales chart on pg. 4). Closed sales, however, dropped 21.9% and new listings fell 18.2%. Pending sales also grew 21.6%(315 v. 259) when comparing April 2009 with March 2009. Closed sales, decreased 6.1% (185 v. 197). New listings grew 9.9% (532 v. 484). At the month’s rate of sales, the 1,951 active residential listings would last approximately 10.5 months.

YEAR-TO-DATE

Comparing January-April 2009 with the same period a year ago,closed sales were down 28.3%, while pending sales decreased 11.6%. New listings were down 20.4% as well.

SALES PRICES

The average sale price for April 2009 was down 9.3% compared to April 2008, while the median sale price dropped 13.7%. See residential highlights table below.

Month-to-month, the average sale price and median sale price are both down when compared with March; the average sale price dipped 1% ($228,500 v. $230,700) and the median sale price was down 8.8% ($196,000 v. $215,000).

The first known celebration of Father's Day was on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, where it was commemorated at William Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South – now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton is believed to have suggested it to her pastor after a deadly explosion in nearby Monongah in December, killing 361 men. It was also during a sermon in 1909 that Sonora Smart Dodd became inspired by Mother's Day. After the death of her mother, Sonora and her siblings were raised by their father William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran. Sonora wanted to show how thankful she was to her father and, because William was born in June, she worked to have the first Father's Day celebrated on June 19, 1910. In 1924, President Coolidge recommended that Father's Day become a national holiday. President Johnson designated the third Sunday of June to be Father's Day in 1966. It was not until 1972 that President Nixon instituted Father's Day as a national observance. Interestingly enough, roses are the official flower on Father's Day, red for fathers who were still living and white for those who have passed on. 

Here Are Some Things You May Not Know About Dads...

159,000 estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2006. These married fathers with children younger than 15 have remained out of the labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 283,000 children.

26.5 million number of fathers who are part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2006.

2.5 million number of single fathers in 2006, up from 400,000 in 1970. Currently, among single parents living with their children, 19 percent are men.

30% of children younger than 6 living with married parents in 2003 who ate breakfast with their father every day. The corresponding number for children living with unmarried fathers was 41 percent. – 64% of children younger than 6 living with married parents who ate dinner with their fathers every day. The corresponding number for children living with unmarried fathers was 66 percent.

63% of children younger than 6 living with married parents who were praised three or more times a day by their fathers. The corresponding number for children living with unmarried fathers was 57 percent.

— Information from the U.S. Census Bureau

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." - Sigmund Freud

So here's to all you fathers out there — we have a privilege like no other — and to all our fathers out there —there is no other like you! Thank you.