QuickTake:

For just the second time since the pandemic, house sale prices were lower during the month of July than in the same month the previous year.

Lane County home prices did something unusual in July: They declined on an annual basis.

The median price of Lane County houses sold last month was $466,000, according to data from the Regional Multiple Listing Service released Thursday, Aug. 6. That was 1.3% lower than the $472,300 median sale price in July 2025.

It’s just the second time in eight years Lane County housing prices have fallen from one July to the next — a month that typically fetches some of the highest prices in the buying season.

Rising interest rates may have driven some sellers to accept lower offers. The interest rate on a 30-year mortgage rose from 6.43% at the start of July to nearly 6.7% by month’s end, according to data from Freddie Mac — a rise that coincided with oil price spikes due to resuming hostilities in the Iran war.

Since 2019, July median sale prices in Lane County have risen between 3.4% and 23.7% on an annual basis. The only other year to see a decline was 2023, when prices fell 0.9%. The sale data excludes the Florence area. 

Prices did rise on a monthly basis. The July median was up 4.4% from the $446,300 median in June.

A total of 390 sales closed in July, essentially unchanged from the 386 sales in June, and 380 in July 2025.

New listings fell slightly: 496 Lane County houses came on the market last month, down from 508 in June and the same number in July 2025.

From January through July, new listings were down 5.1% compared to last year, pending sales are down 1.7% and closed sales are down 0.6%. Median prices were up 1.1%.

Houses that sold last month were on the market an average of 49 days, a level that has held relatively steady for the past three years.

Housing inventory — the amount of time it would take to sell all the listed houses based on the current sales pace — rose slightly to 2.6 months in July from 2.4 months in June. Six months of inventory is the typical marker for a “balanced” market where buyers and sellers are on even footing. Lower inventory typically favors sellers because there are fewer options for buyers. Lane County hasn’t had a balanced market since years before the pandemic.

For more than a decade, Elon Glucklich covered business, government and health care for several dailies and online news organizations across Oregon. His reporting and commentary has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.