May 2010 Portland Oregon Real Estate Report: What's Happening?

May 2010 Portland Oregon Real Estate Report:  What's Happening?

They are a comparison of April 2009 - April 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:

Up Up UP!  Everything.  Closed sales, pending sales, and inventory.  In April 2010, 644 sales closed, 1001 are pending, and 3717 are on the market.  It's good to be a Portlander.

Yearly change from April 09 to April 10:

For Sale: 3536 in April 09, 3717 in April 10. Inventory is Up 5.1%

Sold homes: 463 sold in April 09, 644 sold in April 10. Sales are UP 39.1%.

Pending sales: 604 pending for sale in April 09, 1001 pending for sale in
April 10. Pending sales are UP 65.7%.

Chart for average price per square footage:

In the past 15 months, the average price per square foot in Portland, Oregon has been between $136 and $151.  In April 2010, the average price per square foot in Portland was $142.

Yearly change from April 09 to April 10:

Average price per square foot in April 09 was $143. In April 10 it is $142. This figure has dropped 0.6%.

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, 59 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 April 2010, sellers were getting, on average, 98% of their asking price.

Yearly change from April 09 to April 10:

Average time it takes to sell a home in April 09 was 68 days. In April 10, it is 59 days. A decrease of time on market of 13.2%  The market has improved for sellers. 

The percentage of listing price that was paid was 97% in April 09 and is 98% in April 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 April 2010, this figure was $277,000.

Yearly change from April 09 to April 10:

The average price of a home listed in April 09 was $391,000. In April 10, $363,000. This figure has decreased by 7.2%.

The average price of a home sold in April 09 was $290,000. In April 10 it was $277,000 This figure has decreased by 4.5%.

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 April 2010, this figure was 5.8 months based on closed sales. Portland is currently, on average, a buyer's market but more balanced than last month or last year.

This does NOT mean that it will take, on average, 5.8 months for your home to sell. That number was 59 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 5.8 months for all available homes to sell before there would be nothing left.

Yearly change from April 09 to April 10:

The months of inventory in April 09 was 7.6 months. In April 10, it is 5.8 months. This figure has decreased by 24.4%. This is a great indicator of the state of the market. As you can see, the market has improved over the last year.

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