The proper US answer shouldn't be federal centralisation, but centralsation per state. That should avoid to worst centralisation issues and have clear benefits. And it clearly works in other countries that are smaller or bigger than individual states: it works in New Zealand (similar to Oregon) and Australia (about 30 million people, though I don't know if their registry is federally centralised) for example.
Land registry in Germany is per city/town/municipality. Since land doesn't really move, it is always registered in the municipality where it is located. All titles, mortgages, owners and weirdnesses (local shepherd having the right to graze his sheep on your land) are registered locally. Downside is that e.g. taking a mortgage on your house incurs the additional cost of recording the mortgage in the land registry and removing the record after the mortgage is paid.
