There's no question that real estate in Salem, Oregon is a good investment. Not only is the city the state capital, but its central location in the Willamette Valley makes it convenient to other areas of the valley and to the Pacific coast. Also within reach are the Mackensie River Valley, the Columbia River Canyon, Portland, and Mount Hood. Just across the Cascades are the Deschutes River, and Oregon's northeast.

Real estate in Salem, Oregon got its start in 1844 after the Oregon Institute, a small Christian mission established on the banks of the Willamette River some years earlier was dissolved. It was decided to lay out a town on the same site. By the mid-1840s and 1850s, thousands of settlers were pouring into the valley. Word from the Lewis and Clark expedition extolling the rugged beauty and rich lands of the Northwest Territory had traveled fast. By 1880 the population of Salem had reached 2,500. The most change came in the 1920s, and by the time the last streetcar stopped running, the city had 35 miles of streets.

You're well advised to find a local realtor to help you with your search of real estate in Salem, Oregon today. A realtor has their finger on the pulse of the property market, years of experience, and intimate knowledge of the area. You want to make the most of that expertise and use it to help you find a house to call home.

Real Estate in Salem, Oregon: An Overview of the City

Rather than intersecting along a rigidly geometrical grid, the streets of Salem, Oregon flow in from the valley toward a focal area area at a bend of the Willamette River--the original mission settlement. Market, Center, State, and Mission Streets run east-west, fanning out away from town. Inside of Route 5--the main north-south corridor of the valley--and running roughly parallel to it are Hawthorne, 12th Street/Portland Road, and Commercial/River Road.