Every measure of real estate activity is positive when comparing June 2012 to the prior year.  The number of homes sold increased 22% and the median sales price rose 8.6%.  This represents the highest number of homes sold since August 2007.  

The number of homes placed up for sale dropped again in June and continues to be the lowest inventory since March 2007.  It would take just 3.9 months to sell the 8,800 active listings – substantially less than the 19.2 months of inventory we had in Portland in 2009.  Buyer’s have re-entered the market taking advantage of affordable pricing and low interest rates. 

The average market time to sell a home in the Portland Area is currently 114 days – a decrease of 25% from this time last year.

Profile of Home Sellers

On July 13, 2012, in Did You Know, by Meredith Dunn, Research Communications Representative

Here are some interesting characteristics of today’s home sellers: 

• About half of home sellers traded up to a larger sized and higher priced home and 60% purchased a newer home.
• The typical seller lived in their home for nine years.  In 2007,the typical tenure in a home was only six years.
• Eighty-seven percent of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home.
•  Recent sellers typically sold their homes for 95% of the listing price, and 61% reported they reduced the asking price at least once.
• Forty-one percent of sellers offered incentives to attract buyers, most often assistance with home warranty policies and closing costs.

 Homes are affordable and there are great investor opportunities.  First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000.  Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners.  And, Mortgage Interest Rates are still hovering 4%!

Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home? 

Please have them call me – 503-784-7626.

Home sales in the Portland Area continue to improve.  Home sales increased 13% over the first quarter of 2012, while the number of homes for sale has decreased almost 10%.  This buying activity and shrinking inventory of homes for sale is having a positive effect on home values.  Read my summary below and the attached to see how this may benefit you.

Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

The number of Portland Area homes sold last year were up 4% from the year earlier, and surpassed 2008 and 2009 with a similar margin.  This positive trend has continued into 2012 with an increase in sale activity by 13%.  It seems buyer’s have re-entered the market taking advantage of affordable pricing and low borrowing costs.  In fact, with the exception of March and April of 2010 which were impacted by deadlines for the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, the number of homes sold in April were higher than any month since 2007. 

All of this buying is combined with a reducing inventory of homes for sale.  Homes that are located well and priced correctly are selling quickly and often with multiple offers.  There are currently 8,500 Portland Area Homes for sale - a substantial decrease from a peak of over 18,200 homes for sale in the summer of 2008.  The number of homes for sale in the first quarter of 2012 were down almost 10%.  I believe Portland Home Values will likely increase into 2012. 

The average market time to sell a home in the Portland Area is currently 132 days – a decrease of over 18% from this time last year.

Nationally:

By Alan J. Heavens, Philly Daily News

The nation’s Realtors say they have just finished the strongest first quarter in home sales in five years, and sales contracts are pointing to a strong second three months. 

At the National Association of Realtors’ midyear meetings in Washington this week, chief economist Lawrence Yun said “positive underlying economic factors were helping spur home sales.”

Among the positives, according to Yun, are high affordability conditions, increased job creation, improving consumer confidence and an increase in rental costs that make mortgage payments look like a bargain.

Homes are affordable and there are great investor opportunities.  First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000.  Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners.  And, Mortgage Interest Rates are still hovering 4%!

Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home?  Please have them call me at 503-784-7626.

Home sales in the Portland Area continues to show improvement.  Home sales increased 18% this past month, 15% over the past 6 months, and the number of homes for sale has decreased by almost 30%!  This is having a positive effect on values.  Read my summary below to see how this may benefit you.

Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

The number of Portland Area homes Sold in 2011 increased 4% from the year earlier, and surpassed 2008 and 2009 with a similar margin.  This positive trend has continued into 2012 with an increase in sale activity by almost 18% this past month.  This is great news for home values.  The average cost of a home in Portland is currently $251,300 – an annual increase of almost 2%, and great news considering values had steadily decreased since 2007.  Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a statement that "the trend in contract activity implies we are on track for a more meaningful sales gain this year."  “Movements in the index have been uneven, reflecting the headwinds of tight credit, but job gains, high affordability and rising rents are hopefully pushing the market into what appears to be a sustained housing recovery," Yun added.

There are currently 8,300 Portland Area homes up for Sale.  This is a substantial decrease from a peak of over 18,200 homes for sale in the summer of 2008.  Portland Home Values will likely increase if this inventory reduces further in 2012.  Homes that are located well and priced to attract a buyer are selling quickly and often with multiple offers.


February National Existing Home Sales in Graphs

On March 21, 2012, in Economist Commentaries, by Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist

The spikes in sales in late-2009 and mid-2010 (shown below) were due to the home buyer tax credit deadlines.  Outside of these spike periods, the past two months of sales are at the highest levels in 5 years.

Inventory has been steadily falling.  The charts show the raw number of visible inventory of homes for sale.  There are seasonal patterns, with more listings in spring and summer compared to winter.

The median home price showed a slight increase in February from one year ago.  The increase is more due to the mix of homes issue where the upper-end market, which had been very sluggish in recent past, is beginning to move.  The market is still dominated by sales in the lower price points.

Homes are affordable and there are great investor opportunities.  First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000.  Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners.  And, Mortgage Interest Rates are under 4%!  

Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home?  

Please have them call me at 503-784-7626

Darin

Home sales in the Portland Area continues to show improvement. Home sales have increased 4% this past year, while the number of homes for sale has decreased by more than 25%! Read my summary below to see how this may benefit you.

Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

The number of Portland Area homes Sold in 2011 increased 4% from the year earlier, and has surpassed 2008 and 2009 with a similar margin. This is good news especially considering the years earlier had included tax credit incentives that substantially bumped sales activity. The average cost of a home in Portland is currently $263,300 – equivalent to the average price of a Portland home in 2004-05.

There are currently 8,612 Portland Area homes up for Sale. This is a substantial decrease from a peak of over 18,200 homes for sale in the summer of 2008. Portland Home Values will likely increase if this inventory reduces further in 2012.

Homes that are located well and priced to attract a buyer are selling quickly and sometimes with multiple offers.

2012 Home Sales: Positives on Many Fronts
by Robert Freedman, January 3, 2012.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its latest pending home sales index figure last week and for the second month in a row the index is up. But more than that, the index has broken 100. This is significant because the only time since the housing boom collapsed that the index has broken 100 is when the home owner tax credit was in effect. The fact that the index has returned to that level a year since the credit has been in effect means the housing market is strengthening completely on its own, without any stimulus.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun is upbeat about 2012 because in a number of areas indicators are pointing upward. Not only are home sales up but housing starts are up and home prices are stabilizing in many markets and heading up in some. In areas where they’re still down, the declines aren’t that great. More fundamentally, broader U.S. economic signs are looking positive, including the all-important jobs picture. About 100,000 job are being created a month, and that could rise to 150,000—still not a quick enough pace to get us back to where we were before the downturn but the headwinds are in the right direction.

Homes are affordable and there are great investor opportunities. First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000. Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners. And, Mortgage Interest Rates are still at 4%!

Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home? Please have them call me.

Darin Provost
503-784-7626

Home sales in the Portland Area grew almost 14% in October from last year. This has been a trend for the summer and is combined with a substantial decrease in the number of homes placed up for sale. Read my summary below to see how this may benefit you.

Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

The number of Portland Area homes Sold in October increased 14% as compared to 2010. This combined with a substantial drop in the inventory of homes For Sale is great news for Portland Home Values. There are currently 10,012 homes up for Sale – a substantial decrease from a peak of over 18,200 homes in the summer of 2008. Back then, it was a difficult time for home sellers to compete with 18,000 homes for sale, and home buyers were overwhelmed and uncertain with pricing about a third higher than it is today. Portland Home Values will likely increase if this inventory reduces further in 2011-2012.

The average cost of a home in Portland is currently $263,700 – up almost 6% from the start of the year. Homes that are located well and priced to attract a buyer are selling quickly with multiple offers.

Housing Investment for the Long Haul

by Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist National Realtors Association

Home prices took a rough ride in the past decade. The past 10 years were an anomaly fueled by easy credit availability. Those days are over – and for the better. Most Americans believe in hard work (and not easy credit) before being able to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The chart below shows the long historical trend in median prices of a single-family home in the U.S. A typical buyer purchased a $23,000 home back in 1970. The monthly mortgage payment on that home, assuming a 5 percent down payment, would have been $153 per month for 30 years. So a homeowner who did not do a cash-out refinance would have paid off their mortgage by the year 2000. So imagine no further rent or mortgage payments. Currently in America there about 25 million homeowners who own their homes free-and-clear.

On top of no mortgage payments, the median price of a home in 2000 was $143,000. This is something a person could bequeath to their loved ones when the time arrives or even use for charity donations: the fruits of one’s lifetime labor being put to a good use.

Home prices took a rough ride in the past decade, it’s true. But let’s not forget about the very basic and long-term benefits of homeownership for those who are willing to stay well within their financial capacity.

Homes are affordable and there are fantastic investor opportunities. First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000. Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners. And, Mortgage Interest Rates are BELOW 4%!

Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home? Please have them call me at 503-784-7626.

Darin

Home sales in the Portland Metro Area grew almost 31% in August from last year. This has been a trend for the summer and is combined with a decrease in the number of homes placed up for sale. Read my summary below to see how this may benefit you.

Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

Home sales increased 31% in August as compared to 2010. This a great news for Portland Home Values. The number of homes sold in Portland has steadily increased over the past 3 years indicating the market is stabilizing and Portland Home Values are beginning to rise. The average cost of a home in Portland is currently $271,800 – up almost 11% from 6 months ago.

Homes that are priced to attract a buyer are selling quickly with multiple offers.

National Home Prices continue to show seasonal strength according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. U.S. home prices have shown a four consecutive months of increases. “With July’s data we are seeing not only anticipated monthly increases, but some fairly broad improvement in the annual rates of change in home prices,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “This is still a seasonal period of stronger demand for houses, so monthly price increases are expected. The exceptions were Las Vegas and Phoenix where prices fell, while Denver was flat. The better news is that a majority cities saw their annual rates of change improve in July.

Homes Are Affordable. First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000. Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners. And, it’s a great time to buy investment properties.

Mortgage Interest Rates are BELOW 4%!

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Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home? Please have them call me at 503-784-7626.

Darin

Home sales were up 21% in July!  Fantastic news combined with a decrease in the number of homes placed up for sale by 27%. Read my summary below to see how these trends may benefit you.

Also, Click Here to view some Portland Real Estate Statistics produced by our Multiple Listing Service.

In Summary:

Home sales increased 21% in July as compared to 2010. This a great news for Portland Home Values. The inventory of homes for sale has also hit the lowest level since July 2007 further indicating the market is stabilizing. Portland Home Values should increase if this inventory reduces further in 2011.

The average sales price of a home in Portland is currently $275,100 – an increase of 3% from last month. Homes that are priced to attract a buyer are selling quickly. We currently have homes in inner-SE and NE neighborhoods selling with multiple offers.

Just four years ago the average price of a Portland home had peaked over $350,000! Much of that gain has been reduced, though you can see in the graph below the average sale price has spiked this year between January and July by just over 12%.

Homes Are Affordable Again. First-time buyers can find quality homes priced around $200,000. Higher-end homes are affordable to middle-income wage earners. And, it is a great time to buy investment properties…as there as some deeply discounted prices!

Mortgage Interest Rates are BELOW 5%.

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Do you know someone looking to buy or sell a home? Please have them call me.

Darin