February Market Update in Portland Oregon

January’s stats just came out, and it’s not surprising that things are slow in the market. Despite the fantastic buyer’s market that we are experiencing, we are missing one important ingredient: Buyers! That statement is not entirely accurate, because the market seems to be picking up. Now, we have a lot of inventory and not enough buyers. Last month, we had an increase in the number of pending sales (52% vs. December), yet we had over 120% increase in new listings. Therefore, our inventory has increased, despite the increase in “prospective” buyers. And, of the 4196 pending sales, only 732 (or less than 1 in 6) actually closed. This is a significant number...what happened?

Loans are harder to come by and people are worried about losing jobs. It’s as simple as that. At a time when traditional buyers should be able to purchase a home, they just can’t find the loan or the job security to do it. We will continue to see small percentages of closed homes while consumer confidence is low and while banks are afraid of lending.

On a positive note, we aren’t hurting as much as most of the country. MSNBC again rated Portland, OR as one of the top 5 Real Estate Markets in the country along with San Diego, Washington DC, New York, and Charlotte.

If the bailout works, and lenders free up credit, I would expect to see a higher percentage of these pending sales close. This would, of course, lower our inventory and make sellers a lot happier