The Reserve at Gearhart is the newest development in Gearhart, Oregon and is also the largest. The development has more than 125 building sites, most about 10,000-12,000 square feet in size. Lots first became available for purchase in 2006, and have been discounted repeatedly since. The first (and some would argue the best)  lots sold for over $400,000 in ’06, and the remaining lots have been slowly discounted to under $150,000 today.  One advantage of building in the Reserve is the community sewer system, it eliminates the need for a separate septic system hooked to each home. There’s lots of open space and wildlife habitat in the Reserve neighborhood, and the local elk herd is frquently spotted in the area.

For most of 2008-2009 there was a surplus inventory of new homes available in The Reserve, as well as many lots.  Several of the new homes were discounted heavily starting in the spring of 2009 and it had the intended result. Gearhart Homes LLC sold 4 new homes in a very short time, setting the trend for others in to follow: Discount, and they will come. Discounts of over $100,000 on homes was not uncommon, and the lone resale that I’m aware of recently sold for about half of the orginal 2006 purchase price. As the Gearhart real estate market begins to stabilize lot prices at the Reserve have done the same, flattening out at $80-100,000.  The Reserve at Gearhart is finally coming into its own, new home starts have been steadily popping up for the last 6 months, including several custom builds.

The location is ideal with easy access to the highway and just walking distance to the ocean beaches. The community also includes a community center and a park complete with playground equipment, fire pit, gazebo and BBQ’s.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 31. See more Reserve at Gearhart.
(all data current as of 3/10/2010)

1. 
   MLS # 10018763 in Gearhart

   $399,000, 1,885 sq ft

   3 beds, 2 full baths
2. 
   Sheridan Dr #Lt103, Gearhart

   $399,000, 1,968 sq ft

   3 beds, 2 full baths
3. 
   Sheridan Dr, Gearhart

   $110,000

   0 beds, 0 baths
4. 
   The Reserve @ Gh #18, Gearhart

   $120,000

   0 beds, 0 baths
5. 
   The Reserve #8, Gearhart

   $110,000

   0 beds, 0 baths

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

In my last post I stated that 2009 wasn’t what I expected for the Gearhart, Oregon real estate market, and as the year comes to a close I still feel the same way. All though the number of units sold was up compared to 2008, the market didn’t feel much better overall in my opinion. There’s still about 2 weeks left in the year, and currently there’s two pending sales that will likely close before the year is out. With that in mind, here’s a few interesting things I found comparing this year (through today) with last year:

Gearhart Single Family Res. Properties 2009 YTD 2008

• Units Sold 33 27
• High Sale  $1,750,000 $1,800,000
• Low Sale  $155,000 $207,000
• Number Sold Under $500,000 26 15

Gearhart Residential Land/Lots 2009 YTD 2008

• Units Sold  5 18
• High Sale  $360,000 $885,000
• Low Sale  $80,000 $110,000

For your viewing pleasure I also added the chart showing median sales prices for Gearhart from 2002-present. The chart isn’t exact but does show the peak in late 2006 or early 2007 that resulted in a backup of inventory and the beginning of property value decline. The most interesting part of the graph to me was the relation between median sales prices from this year compared to 2005. My gut feeling has been that Gearhart has fallen back to about 2005 property values, but that was just a hunch without any specific research. We’re not quite there yet, and it’s hard to predict if we’ll get there. However, something to keep in mind going forward is we could get there which means a little further decline in values. On a side note I think it’s interesting that we did see a little activity in Pinehurst and The Rese

For the month of October, Gearhart saw a slightly lower sales volume than the previous month with just 2 closed residential (single family detached) sales. We saw 4 new listings and a number of listings expire or otherwise come off the market bringing the overall available inventory slightly down to 73 active listings- Down five from the prior month. October also resulted in 3 new pending sales (SFD) for a current total of 5.

There was one residential lot sale in Gearhart during October and two new pending sales. The single sale was Lot 20 @ The Reserve, and the two pending sales were at split between the Reserve and Highlands. Currently there is 49 residential lots listed for sale in Gearhart and list prices range from $65,000 to $795,000.

The Gearhart condo market has been hit especially hard this year, and including the single condo sale in the month of October that makes just 2 Gearhart condos sold this year. Not only has the Gearhart condo market been slow, but the average days to sell a condo this year is 366.5 days! Not so good. On the upside there’s a relatively low inventory of condo’s for sale in Gearhart at just 8 active listings after 1 sold and 3 expired listings during October. Also, the condo sale did involve financing- and condo financing has been a huge challenge the past year.

10/22/2009- Gearhart, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Gearhart Homes for Sale: 72  (-2)
• Gearhart Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 50  (-4)
• Gearhart Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 12

• Pending Gearhart Homes: 5  (-1)
• Pending Gearhart Lots & Land: 7  (+2)
• Pending Gearhart Condo/Townhouse: 1

• Gearhart Sold Properties for the 09/12/09- 10/15/09: 5  (-1)

For comparison purposes, differences indicated by (*) are compared to about a month ago.

10/22/2009- Seaside, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Seaside Homes for Sale: 124  (-8)
• Seaside Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 81  (-6)
• Seaside Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 67 (-4)

• Pending Seaside Homes: 25 (+4)
• Seaside Seaside Lots & Land: 4  (+2)
• Pending Seaside Condo/Townhouse: 2  (-2)
  

• Seaside Sold Properties for the week 09/12/09- 10/15/09: 10  (-7)

For comparison purposes, differences indicated by (*) are compared to about a month ago.

source: Clatsop MLS. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate.

I love charts and data so lets look at the market trends in Gearhart and Seaside compared to Clatsop County as a whole:

The blue line on the chart represents the active inventory, and the red represents the pending inventory. The common theme in both Gearhart & Seaside and the county as a whole is declining inventory. This is due to both an increased sales rate and listings come off the market unsold. That trend is certainly positive for the market, as the simple ’supply and demand’ applies to our real estate market. The less inventory, the greater demand for the remaining homes available. This doesn’t directly translate to increased prices however. Until we see a slow down in REO inventory and increased lending volume the upward pressure on pricing won’t materialize. The pending inventory is an indicator of future market trends in some ways, a heavily increasing pending rate would indicate the market is flattening out for example. We’re not seeing a increases in pending inventory across the board, but overall the number remains stable and is increasing in certain areas in the county. Seaside is a pleasant surprise in all this, the chart is a perfect indicator of what we’d like to see everywhere. When those lines get closer and closer to each other, supply is decreasing and demand is increasing leading toward a balanced market. We’re still a long ways from that, but heading in the right direction currently.

I’ve started a new section about The Reserve at Gearhart, the goal being to provide some information to interested Buyers from a different perspective than what is currently available online. If there’s specific info that should be added, let me know in the comments.

Also, the new construction Reserve home at 503 Diamond Lane just had a price reduction to $494,000!

Posting has been pretty light here lately for a couple of reasons. Number 1, I’ve been busy. Number 2, I’ve been working on a new site. On top of all that, a super smart guy has been helping me integrate video in my marketing plan (in my spare time).

You’ve likely noticed a video tab at the top of the page, and some video thumb nails  over here ——>. The reason for the video is nothing really gives you a great feel for a home like a poorly made video amateur attempt at cinematography. Even with professional photography it’s still two dimensional… So, check out some of the videos including the elk:

Pardon the dust if you will, you’ll notice some tweaks going on for several weeks. You might even see things appear and then disappear the next day.

I listed two great new homes for sale in Gearhart this past week, 1395 Dooley Ln & 503 Diamond Ln.

503 Diamond Ln. Gearhart, OR

503 Diamond Lane is an awesome new home in The Reserve at Gearhart, that includes custom touches and upgrades that the usual spec home doesn’t.

1395 Dooley Ln. Gearhart, OR

1395 Dooley Lane is located in East Gearhart, and combines a single level 1700+ sqft home with a detached shop into one package for less $$$.

9/18/2009- Gearhart, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Gearhart Homes for Sale: 74  (-1)
• Gearhart Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 54  (-1)
• Gearhart Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 12
• Gearhart Bank Foreclosure/REO’s: 0

• Pending Gearhart Homes: 6  (-1)
• Pending Gearhart Lots & Land: 5
• Pending Gearhart Condo/Townhouse: 1

• Gearhart Sold Properties for the week 09/06/09- 9/11/09: 0

9/18/2009- Seaside, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Seaside Homes for Sale: 132  (-2)
• Seaside Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 87  (+3)
• Seaside Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 71 (+1)
• Seaside Bank Foreclosure/REO’s: 3

• Pending Seaside Homes: 21 (+1)
• Seaside Seaside Lots & Land: 2
• Pending Seaside Condo/Townhouse: 3 
  

• Seaside Sold Properties for the week 09/06/09- 9/11/09: 2

source: Clatsop MLS. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate.

A pretty quiet week in real estate here on the coast, at least the pending sales are keeping pace with the amount of active listings and overall inventory is slowly trending down.  Some interesting market stats for YTD sales in Seaside & Gearhart, including all property types:

• Gearhart YTD Sales 2009: 30
• Gearhart YTD Sales 2008: 37

• Seaside YTD Sales 2009: 68
• Seaside YTD Sales 2008: 74

note: Stats compiled today reflect changes over the past 2 weeks. I’m a slacker and did not get stats compiled and posted prior to the holiday weekend.

9/11/2009- Gearhart, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Gearhart Homes for Sale: 75  (-1)
• Gearhart Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 55  (-3)
• Gearhart Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 12 (+1)
• Gearhart Bank Foreclosure/REO’s: 0

• Pending Gearhart Homes: 7  (+1)
• Pending Gearhart Lots & Land: 5  (+1)
• Pending Gearhart Condo/Townhouse: 1

• Gearhart Sold Properties for the weeks 8/22/09- 9/05/09: 1

9/11/2009- Seaside, Oregon Real Estate Market Stats:

• Seaside Homes for Sale: 134  (+1)
• Seaside Res. Lots & Land for Sale: 85  (-3)
• Seaside Condo/Townhouse for Sale: 70 (+4)
• Seaside Bank Foreclosure/REO’s: 3  (+1)

• Pending Seaside Homes: 20 
  
• Seaside Seaside Lots & Land: 2  (+1)
• Pending Seaside Condo/Townhouse: 3 
  

• Seaside Sold Properties for the weeks 8/22/09- 9/11/09: 5

source: Clatsop MLS. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate.

Inventory in both Seaside and Gearhart remains fairly stable, however I would like to see the rate of sales increasing in both areas- But Gearhart especially. A lone closed sale over a 2 week period doesn’t help things much and equates to over a decade of supply in terms of the rate of sale.
Property Transaction Report September 5, 2009

From the Daily Astorian:

Boundaries for the proposed annexation stretch from the equivalent of 13th Street north to near Del Rey Beach Road and will include the Highlands and Pacific Palisades subdivisions. The total area, west of U.S. Highway 101, is 129 acres and includes 153 property owners.

If the council approves the annexation Wednesday, it could become effective in November, said City Manager Dennis McNally.

McNally said the Gearhart City Council initiated the annexation a year ago by asking him to send annexation consent forms to the area’s property owners.

In return, the city received signed consent forms from 64 percent of the property owners, McNally said.

At least 50 percent of the property owners, 50 percent of the acreage and 50 percent of the area’s value must be represented on the consent forms to create a so-called “triple majority” that triggers an annexation. The City Council must also approve it.

Full Story Here