New Stats and Analysis for Portland, OR

According to RMLS, "market activity in August showed forward progress compared to August of last year but a decline in activity from last month". Pending sales are up city-wide to a tune of 13% and closed sales 4% compared to August of 2008. This is highly driven by the low interest rates that are still available and the $8000.00 tax credit for First-Time Buyers. Houses at price points below $350K are overwhelmingly competing in a Seller's Market. Yes, you heard me correctly...a Seller's Market. Buyers are plentiful at these price points, prices are as low as they will go, and sellers are receiving multiple offers on properties if they are priced near the average sold sales price in the area. This phenomenon is occurring across the board in NE, SE, SW, NW, N Portland, Lake Oswego and Beaverton.

The Average Sales Price on properties, however, has dropped 10% in Portland since August of last year. This is still leading to longer market times for properties and sellers that are just slightly overpriced. There is just too much inventory on the market for a buyer to overpay.

On a positive note, we are finally seeing the Average Sales Price of properties increase on a month to month basis. We had a 2.7% increase in Average Sales Price throughout the city since July. We have reached the bottom in my opinion, but it will be a long, slow ride until we are seeing prices from even a few years ago. Economists are predicting a flat market (pricing) throughout 2010 and a cautious increase in housing prices by the third or fourth quarter.