May 2012

The place to be is Portland. We’re Coming Back.

If you want to be in the right place when the recovery starts, that place is very likely right here in Portland. When Moody’s was asked to forecast which states would be among the first to recover, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Colorado, and Idaho were the first five in the nation to be the “early risers”. If this forecast is accurate, Portland would likely be the first city in the state to experience an upswing.

The Portland real estate market is experiencing month over month improvements in key statistics. Historically low interest rates are still helping to push the first time homebuyer market. Values may go down a bit more, but everything points to an end of depreciation by the end of the year. If everything we are hearing is true, we can feel fortunate that our close-in eastside neighborhoods were among the last to be affected by a national real estate recession and potentially among the first to recover, we’re betting we live in the right place.

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April Residential Highlights

April Residential Highlights
Sales activity in the Portland metro area improved in April 2010 compared to the same month a year ago. Comparing April 2010 with April 2009, closed sales increased 49.1%. Pending sales also jumped 60.8%, and new listings rose 23.8%. When comparing April 2010 with the month prior, March 2010, closed sales grew 7.9% (1,941 v. 1,799) and pending sales were up 24.5% (2,991 v. 2,402). New listings, on the other hand, dropped 5.5% (4,713 v. 4,987). At the month’s rate of sales, the 14,182 active residential listings would last approximately 7.3 months, the lowest of the year so far.
Sale Prices
The average sale price for April 2010 decreased 3.1% compared to April 2009, while the median sale price went down 4%. Month-to-month, there were minimal changes in prices. The average sale price rose just 0.6% ($282,100 v. $280,300) and the median sale price went up 0.5% ($240,000 v. $238,900), when comparing April 2010 to March 2010.
Year-to-Date
Comparing January-April 2010 with the same period in 2009, closed sales increased 41.4%. Pending sales jumped 46.3%, and new listings also rose 15.4%. See residential highlights below. 

 

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Total Active Residential Listings

This graph shows the total active residential listings over the past three calendar years in the greater Portland, Oregon metropolitan area.

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Pending Listings

This graph represents monthly accepted offers in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area over the past three years. 

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Closed Sales

This graph shows the closed sales over the past three calendar years in the greater Portland, OR metropolitan area.

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Average Sales Price

This graph represents the average sale price of all homes sold in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area.

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