Thursday, October 22, 2015

Don't Californicate Oregon!

Portland Versus California: What’s driving migration? : Real Estate Agent PDX:

It's amazing that this has ONLY JUST hit the blogosphere.  Native Oregonians have been outraged at the California Migration for decades.  The issue IS the relative economics between high-salary California and low-salary Oregon.

Californians can sell their home for $X,XXX,XXX and buy a comparable or better (in their opinion) home for $xxx,xxx in Oregon.

For retiring Californians, this is A Good Thing!
For retiring Oregonians: not so good.



September 25, 2015
The Oregon real estate news sites have been abuzz with renewed angst from Portlanders about the migration of Californians to Oregon’s biggest metro area. From writing angry comments below news articles to actually slapping “no Californians” stickers on real estate agents’ for-sale signs, some people are really having a hard time accepting that someone from out-of-state might come buy a home in Portland. 
They are concerned that out of state buyers will continue to raise real estate market prices in Portland and decrease home affordability and availability. While home affordability and availability is an important and relevant issue, migration has a significant impact on the entire Oregon economy and affects far more than the Portland real estate market.

It's not that there's a soupcon of difference between Californians and Oregonians, except that the Californication movement has been boosting real-estate values for two generations.

For those who are not part of the phenomenon, it seems like a silly issue; for Oregonians, it's an issue which determines whether they can afford to retire according to their life schedule.

The good news: Oregonians can likely get a better price for their home from 'migratory' retired Californians than from native Oregonians.

The bad news: Native Oregonians who sell their homes can't find a 'retirement home' at a price they can afford.

They've already been bought by retiring Californians.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Migration of young folks from California to Oregon would be good for Oregon. They bring enthusiasm, new, and fresh ideas and ways of doing things. Older migrants and/or retirees will bring their experience, stability and money into the state. Sounds like a win win for Oregon.

Jerry The Geek said...

Migrants from Mexico would theoretically decrease property values, thus making the homes of retiring native Oregonians worth less.

Migrants from California would theoretically increase property values, making it more difficult for retiring Oregonians to buy retirement properties that they can afford.

Does that seem bizarre? Good call ... it is!

I sold my home for $2,000 20 years ago, because there is no way for native Oregonians to profit on their retirement.

It's complicated.