• Enroll Now for 2024-2025 Kids Club at Bethany Athletic Club!
• Donate to Sunset Credit Union’s School Supply Drive
• Help Cedar Mill Farmers Market Thrive!
• Books wanted for SMART’s Community Book Drive
• Cedar Mill Real Estate market—no good news on the horizon

Enroll Now for 2024-2025 Kids Club at Bethany Athletic Club!

15670 NW Central Dr., 971-247-3893, visit the BAC Kids Club website for more details

Are you looking for a safe, structured, and fun after-school program for your elementary-aged children in the Portland and Beaverton area? Look no further! The BAC Kids Club is now enrolling for the upcoming 2024-2025 school season. This program offers a fantastic opportunity for kids to be creative, learn, practice healthy habits, and to make lifelong friends.

At BAC Kids Club, we offer a variety of activities designed to inspire creativity and promote well-being. Children will enjoy a mix of fun and educational experiences, all within a safe and supportive setting. 

Donate to Sunset Credit Union’s School Supply Drive

Monday-Friday in August, 9-5, 1100 NW Murray Blvd.

Sunset Credit Union is once again conducting a supply drive for local schools and would like your help. The credit union is collecting new school supplies (ie: paper, pens, pencils, folders etc.) which they will collect and donate to the Beaverton School District.

“Now that we serve all of Washington County, we’ve begun teaching financial literacy classes in a number of these local schools,” said Sunset Credit Union’s President/CEO Rhonda Baggarley. “We’ve seen each of these school’s need for basic supplies and we’d like to help them out. The most requested items are pencils, pens, paper, folders and backpacks.” Your generosity is appreciated!

Sunset Credit Union is a full service, not-for-profit financial institution serving anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Washington County. Visit the SSPFCU website to learn more about them. You can easily join the credit union by visiting their Membership webpage.

Help Cedar Mill Farmers Market Thrive!

Saturdays, through October 19, 9 am-2 pm, corner of NW Cornell & Murray Roads

By Dean Moberg, CMFM board member

We love the Cedar Mill Farmers Market. Nothing beats strolling among the vendors, enjoying live music and locally prepared food, and then taking home fresh healthy produce grown on local farms. Kids look forward to each weekly activity that teaches them about food, nutrition, and nature, and provides them with tokens to exchange with real farmers who grow real food. The educational experience is priceless.

The Cedar Mill Farmers Market is administered by an eight-person board. We donate our time and expertise to make the market a great place for you and your family. We enjoy our volunteer work tremendously, but our biggest challenge is balancing a budget while providing the services shoppers deserve.

Vendor fees, grants, sponsorships, and donations generate market income. Our most significant expenses include salaries for two part-time staff (market manager and assistant), rental of the market site, insurance, stipends for musicians, and supplies for our Power of Produce kids’ program. In addition to the mentioned income sources, we would love for additional donors like you to get involved.  

If you would like to learn more or help keep our local market thriving, please visit our Fundraising page. Thank you.

Books wanted for SMART’s Community Book Drive

Saturday, August 17, 12-2 pm, 9755 SW Barnes Rd., parking lot, free 

Throughout the year, Start Making a Reader Today collects new and gently used children’s books for our Children’s Book Bank, to distribute to households and children with limited access to books. To help keep up with demand, we are hosting a book drive to help fill these homes with much-needed books. 

Bring a new or gently used children’s book (or bring a whole bag!) and receive a serving of free ice cream in return. Due to capacity, we cannot accept library books, encyclopedias, textbooks, or coloring books. Please join Sonder Northwest in supporting our community of readers! For details, please visit our Children’s Book Bank page.

Cedar Mill Real Estate market—
no good news on the horizon

By Jan Dempsey, Realtor, Windermere Group

First-time homebuyers frustrated by high mortgage rates and even higher home prices may not be able to purchase for possibly years. The US housing market is “stuck” say Bank of America economists, and they are not convinced it will become unstuck until 2026 or later they say. Home prices will stay high and go even higher. The housing shortage will persist. And mortgage rates may not fall much—even if the Federal Reserve finally delivers long-delayed interest rate cuts. There isn’t a magic fix, and this may take years to work its way out.

Housing affordability is a major problem in America. Home prices spiked during Covid-19 and then the Fed’s war on inflation sent mortgage rates surging. The one-two punch has made it a historically unaffordable time to buy a home. Mortgage rates rose substantially but so did home prices. The supply of homes simply cannot keep up with demand. Prices have had nowhere to go but up.

The lock-in effect is hurting supply. People who already own their home are effectively locked into their property after refinancing or getting a mortgage during the pandemic when ultra-low rates were available. Plus, home prices have gone up. For many, it just doesn’t make sense to move. And because those homeowners are not moving, the supply of existing homes on the market is limited. 

The lock-in effect could persist for another six to eight years. People who want to size up to a bigger home can’t, and the next generation can’t even get their foot in the door for a starter property. The move-up market does not exist, starter homes have doubled in value and the owners would like to move up, but the problem is they can’t take their mortgage rate with them. 

In theory, a flood of supply of new homes would help unstick the market. However, housing starts, or new construction, are expected to remain flat for the coming years. And housing starts have still not recovered from the bursting of the housing bubble in the mid-2000s. The forecast for a stuck housing market cuts both ways. The longer first-time buyers are prevented from buying, the more time they miss out on wealth creation. 

With almost 40 years as a realtor, I have vast experience with buyers and sellers, first time buyers or move up buyers and sellers. It would be my pleasure to meet with you, to learn your plans, and to help you navigate this transition. This is a very complicated market; I would love to help you understand it. Reach me by phone at 503-706-6358, or email me at jdempsey@windermere.com.