March 2010 Real Estate Report: What's Happening?

March 2010 Real Estate Report:  What's Happening?

They are a comparison of February 2009 - February 2010 for all of Multnomah County and are taken directly from the RMLS. What follows is my own analysis of these statistics. For our purposes, I thought it best to analyze Multnomah County as a whole. Each neighborhood, however, is a little micro-universe and has its own market. Changing the parameters of the zip codes, price variables, or time periods can lead to very different results. This analysis is of all homes sold in all price ranges in Multnomah County. If you have any questions about specific zip codes, or any questions about the market in general, please reply to this forum with those questions or feel free to contact me at: http://www.propertiesofportland.com.

Since Portland is a neighborhood city, you can now search by "Irvington, Alberta, etc.". You can check it out by clicking here.

On to the report
Here is a chart of all homes for sale, pending for sale, and sold in Portland, Oregon for the last 15 months:

Pending sales keep climbing!  Look at the pending sales for February 2009 to compare.  In February 2010, there were 341 closed sales, 634 pending, and 3243 on the market.  More homes are now coming on the market to take advantage of the soon-to-expire homebuyer tax credit and approaching Spring.

Yearly change from February 09 to February 10:

For Sale: 3523 in February 09, 3243 in February 10. Inventory is DOWN 7.9%

Sold homes: 292 sold in February 09, 341 sold in February 10. Sales are UP 16.8%.

Pending sales: 392 pending for sale in February 09, 634 pending for sale in February 10. Pending sales are UP 61.7%.

Chart for average price per square footage:

Price per sq footage has been mostly holding steady for all of 2009 with a slight dip for the first 2 months of 2010.  In February 2010, the average price per square foot in Portland is $136.

Yearly change from February 09 to February 10:

Average price per square foot in February 09 was $142. In February 10 it is $136. This figure has dropped 4.5%.

Days on market and sold/list price %:

This chart is showing us two things. First, how many days on the market that a home is spending, on average, before being sold. In all of Multnomah County, in all price ranges, a home is taking, on average, 82 days to sell.

The other thing that this chart shows is what percentage of listing price the home, on average, is selling at. This is a great indicator of pressure on prices. In February 2010, sellers were getting, on average, 97% of their asking price.

Yearly change from February 09 to February 10:

Average time it takes to sell a home in February 09 was 74 days. In February 10, it is 82 days. An increase of time on market of 10.8%.

The percentage of listing price that was paid was 96% in February 09 and is 97% in February 10.

Average price for sale vs. average price of sold:

The largest segment of home sales have been in the price range under $400,000. You can see this reflected in the average price of a home that has sold. In February 2010, this figure was $274,000. First time homebuyers have been taking great advantage of affordable prices and
the tax credit.

Yearly change from February 09 to February 10:

The average price of a home listed in February 09 was $379,000. In February 10, $353,000. This figure has decreased by 6.9%.

The average price of a home sold in February 09 was $288,000. In February 10 it was $274,000 This figure has decreased by 4.9%.

Months of inventory:

Months of inventory gives a timeline of how long it would take for all of the current listings to sell. Anything above 4 months is considered a buyers market. In February 2010, this figure was 9.5 months. Portland is currently, on average, a buyer's market.

This does NOT mean that it will take, on average, 9.5 months for your home to sell. That number was 82 days, remember? It means that, if not a single listing were to come on the market in Multnomah County from this moment, it would take 9.5 months for all available homes to sell
before there would be nothing left.

Yearly change from February 09 to February 10:

The months of inventory in February 09 was 12.1 months. In February 10, it is 9.5 months. This figure has decreased by 21.5%. This is a great indicator of the state of the market. You can see how much things have improved from last year at this time.

As I have said before, none of this information matters if you have a particular neighborhood in mind since Portland neighborhoods are their own micro-markets. If you have one in mind to buy or are selling your home, please request a report for that neighborhood and I am happy to post it on this blog or send it to you.

Hey people, I want to know what you think of these reports. Too many stats? Just right? Something missing? Let me know so I can make these more useful for you. What are your thoughts about real estate right now? What do you think of the information in this report? Post to this blog so we can discuss.

Visit my website where you can contact me and search all Portland Metro Area listings from the RMLS: http://www.propertiesofportland.com