Portland Blog- This Week in Portland January 16 - January 23

A few days ago, I was asked to help some visitors with a "list of things to do INSIDE in Portland". Ha! A little too wet for ya? As a long time Portlander, I have no problem biking, running, walking, you-name-it in the rain but I can see where non-locals wouldn't want to spend their whole vacation wet. So, this shall be the start of my "How to have fun inside in Portland" list:

Coffee shop crawl
Pub Crawl
OMSI
Bowling
Yoga
Rock climbing
Portland Art Museum



This is just the beginning...I'm interested in your thoughts and ideas. Send 'em on!

Enjoy the rest of this Portland Blog and have a great weekend, PDX!

Portland Photo of the Week

The Portland Photo of the Week is by Faith Smith. Eagle Creek is one of my favorite hikes of all time and is worth the drive (through the stunning gorge, I might add). I can't stress how insanely beautiful this area is -- if you haven't been there, you must go. Want to learn more about this awesome place? Read up! PS-- if you go to Eagle Creek, save some time at the end of the day to head over the Bridge of the Gods to Stevenson, Washington and have a great brew at Walking Man Brewery!



Twisty Falls

Faith wins a bag of freshly roasted coffee from Coava Roasters for sharing this awesome shot!

Our Portland Photo of the Week is currently sponsored by Coava Roasters and The Red E Cafe. A winner is announced with every This Week in Portland blog. Submit your photos to win!

Featured Portland Events

NW Film Center Reel Music 27

Welcome to our 27th edition of Reel Music. We've been on the lookout all year for new works—and timely classics—for this annual celebration of sound and image, music and culture. Whether your passion is classical, opera, jazz, blues, rock, or reggae, we hope you find this mixture of old and new, familiar and strange to be full of inspiration and discovery. As always, our special thanks go to Music Millennium, Willamette Week, and MacTarnahan's Brewing Company for helping to make it all happen.

Portland Chocolate Fest

Sample the latest culinary wonders from chocolate masters and artisan chocolatiers in the Chocolate Bazaar. Continue your tantalizing journey to the Chocolate Market as you learn the art of chocolate pairings with wine, sake, and beer.

Take Chocolate 101 and learn the basics or become a chocolate aficionado with presentations and demonstrations throughout the weekend.

The Discovery Museum will have chocolate samples for visitors, and showcase our upcoming exhibit, The Chocolate Story which explores the history of chocolate from its beginning as a potent and magical drink used by the Aztecs to its current worldwide popularity.

China Design Now

China Design Now explores the recent explosion of critically compelling design and architecture projects created in China, contextualizing the impact of rapid economic development on these projects in the country’s major cities. This immersive, multi-sensory exhibition captures a dynamic phase in China, as it opens up to global influences and responds to the hopes and dreams of its new urban middle class.

Representing three swiftly expanding cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen — the exhibition features the work of Chinese and international designers focused on architecture, fashion and graphic design, film, photography, product and furniture design, youth culture, and digital media. Visitors journey south to north along China’s east coast, exploring graphic design and visual culture in China’s manufacturing capital, Shenzhen, fashion and lifestyle in Shanghai, and architecture in Beijing, home of the 2008 Olympic stadium. Ends January 17

Lawrence Howard: Mawson's Mettle, On The Wide Shores Of The World

This January, Portland Story Theater's Lawrence Howard will unveil the much-anticipated sequel to last-year's sold-out solo show, Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare. Hailed as "the Homer of Portland," Howard holds audiences "entranced from start to finish" (Wattenberg, The Oregonian, 01/09) with his epic tellings of true historical adventure tales.

This next chapter in the Armchair Adventurer Series is called Mawson's Mettle; Alone On The Wide Shores Of The World. A veteran of one of Shackleton's earlier voyages, Mawson led an Australian expedition to the frozen continent in 1911. Out sledging with two other men, Mawson was thrown into peril when one of the sledges -- along with the six best dogs, most of the food and equipment, and one of his companions -- was lost in a deep crevasse. After his second companion and the rest of the dogs died, Mawson struggled against freezing temperatures, 80 mile-per-hour winds, loneliness, grief, illness and starvation, pulling his one remaining sled for hundreds of miles. This is an epic story of survival and determination and courage to rival the Shackleton saga.

Find walking groups, Reiki, dance classes, musicals, theater, spirituality and more on our Portland Events calendar! Add your own events, too!

Looking for other great things to do in Portland? We have some great ideas for you here!

Meet McMenamins

McMenamins is a true Portland success story and is loved by nearly all Portlanders. In a very real way, McMenamins defines what Portland is all about-- and that can be summed up in two words - fiercely independent. Pretty much any McMenamins in Portland can be described as 100% atmosphere, totally unique, off the chart eclectic and sometimes just plain weird.

Walk into a McMenamins in Portland and you instantly know something is different...The walls are painted with glorious and often times eerie murals, the building is more than likely historic, they are serving their own McMenamins beer, wine and spirits and you might find a cigar room or two. Distinct personality is an understatement and variety could not begin to describe what McMenamins is all about. Imagine a bar that is a hotel, that is also a movie theater where you can eat pizza and drink beer while sitting on a velvet couch, has an outdoor soaking pool, a billiards hall, a concert venue, community garden, a glass blowing art studio, and so forth. The ever veritable mix of this and that is McMenamins Portland and we love it!

Enjoy this walking tour of Kennedy School in NE Portland:


Read this whole article on McMenamins

January 2010 Real Estate Report: What's Happening?

By Ross Seligman

A note about my statistics:

They are a comparison of December 2008 - December 2009 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.

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

As you can see, this holiday season was much nicer to real estate than last holiday season. Inventory is down, and closed and pending sales are up over the same time last year which is, in any market, usually a slow time of year.

Yearly change from December 08 to December 09:

For Sale: 3535 in December 08, 2981 in December 09. Inventory is DOWN 15.7%

Sold homes: 347 sold in December 08, 442 sold in December 09. Sales have risen 27.4%.

Pending sales: 248 pending for sale in December 08, 387 pending for sale in December 09. Pending sales are UP 56%.

Chart for average price per square footage:

Price per sq footage has been mostly holding steady for all of 2009 with a very slight decrease. In December 2009 we are basically back where we started at the beginning of the year at $144/square foot.

Yearly change from December 08 to December 09:

Average price per square foot in December 08 was $151. In December 09 it is $144. 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, 67 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 December 2009, sellers were getting, on average, 97% of their asking price. Downward pressure on prices has eased in 2009.

Yearly change from December 08 to December 09:

Average time it takes to sell a home in December 08 was 68 days. In December 09, it is 67 days. A decrease of time on market of 1.5%.

The percentage of listing price that was paid was 96% in December 08 and is 97% in December 09.

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 December 2009, this figure was $294,000. First time homebuyers have been taking great advantage of affordable prices and the tax credit.

Yearly change from December 08 to December 09:

The average price of a home listed in December 08 was $391,000. In December 09, $369,000. This figure has decreased by 5.6%.

The average price of a home sold in December 08 was $295,000. In December 09 it was $294,000 This figure has decreased by 0.3%.

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 December 2009, this figure was 6.7 months. Portland is currently, on average, a buyer's market.

This does NOT mean that it will take, on average, 6.7 months for your home to sell. That number was 67 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 6.7 months for all available homes to sell before there would be nothing left.

Yearly change from December 08 to December 09:

The months of inventory in December 08 was 10.2 months. In December 09, it is 6.7 months. This figure has decreased by 34.3%. 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.

Link to original article by local Portland Realtor and Ecobroker, Ross Seligman.

Did you know there are nearly 100 urban Portland neighborhoods? Learn about Portland Neighborhoods by reading their respective neig...

Best Real Estate Deals in Portland

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