We released the latest Market Action reports to RMLS™ subscribers yesterday. Many areas of Oregon and Southwest Washington are showing improvement as far as sales and inventory go – here are a few highlights:

Portland Metro Active Listings: Note how the 2009 line is basically flat.

Inventory: Inventory is showing steady improvement in Portland (7.3 months), Clark County (7.3 months), and Lane County (6.2 months). In most circles, 6 months of supply is considered a balanced market. The drop in inventory comes thanks to strong closed sales, but also because the number of active listings is growing at a much slower pace than usual.

Closed sales: The Portland metro area was finally able to post a gain in same-month closed sales for the first time since April 2007. Closed sales were up 8.6% compared to last July. Clark County posted a gain for the second straight month – closed sales were up 23.5% there. Lane County also posted an 11% gain. Baker County, Curry County, Douglas County, and the Mid-Columbia region also saw growth.

Clark Co. Pending Sales: Oh, so close to reaching July 2007 levels.

Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming Realtor® events & education in our service areas for July. If you have an event that is not listed here, please let us know by commenting below. For future events, please send an e-mail to communications (at) rmls (dot) com.  

– July 16: OAR (Oregon Association of Realtors) hosts Dealing with Foreclosure Consultants – webinar

– July 23: PMAR (Portland Metropolitan Assocition of Realtors) hosts Short Sales and Foreclosure: An Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) Course

– July 23: CCAR (Clark Co. Association of Realtors) hosts its 28th Annual Golf Tournament

– July 23: EAR (Eugene Association of Realtors) hosts Membership Luncheon, featured speaker is Lennox Scott, CEO John L. Scott

– July 23: SAR (Salem Association of Realtors) – SAR Night at Volconoes Baseball 

– July 24: CCAR hosts Realtor Foundation Texas Hold’em Tournament & Casino Night

– July 29: OAR  hosts Internet Marketing Skills – webinar (free)

– July 30: OAR hosts Dealing with REO Properties – webinar

– July 30: EAR hosts Stock the Pantry, a benefit for Food for Lane County

Also, if you’re an RMLS subscriber, we have lots of FREE opportunities for continuing education credit at a location near you, click the link for your area to view the July Training Calendar:

– Coos County
– Eastern Oregon
– Eugene
– Gresham
– Hood River
– Portland
– Roseburg
– Salem
– Vancouver

Image courtesy of Ayhan Yildiz

Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming Realtor® events & education in our service areas for the rest of June. If you have an event that is not listed here, please let us know by commenting below. For future events, please send an e-mail to communications (at) rmls (dot) com.  

Vancouver Fine Homes Group Tour, June 18: The next Vancouver Fine Homes Group tour will be on Thursday, June 18 starting at 9 a.m. They will be touring the East side of the county. Visit www.vancouverfinehomes.org for more information.

Eugene Association of Realtors, Principal Brokers Roundtable Forum – Short Sales, June 19: http://www.eugenerealtors.org/education_events.html

CCAR June Membership Meeting, June 25: Hear tips on how to best integrate some of today’s hottest social media tools, including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook into your current marketing plan. Register here: http://ccrealtors.com/downloads/junemtg.pdf

Springfield Homebuyers Fair, June 27: http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/CMO/NewsRelease/NR%202009%20May%2029%20Mayor%20Sid%20Leiken%20to%20Proclaim%20June%20as%20National%20Homeownership%20Month.pdf

Image courtesy of Ayhan Yildiz