Portland Metro Sales by Price Range – September 2009

Homes below $400k make up 85% of sales in September

I recently read that in Phoenix, 93% of September Home Sales were below $400k. The author says that Phoenix is essentially a “tale of two markets”, one where homes in the lower priced spectrum are selling & where high-end homes are sitting.

We’ve looked at similar numbers before to see how the homebuyer tax credit was effecting the Portland market, so I figured it was time to take a look at these numbers again & see how we compare to the Phoenix sales by price range – here’s what I found:

% of Portland Home Sales by Price Range (September 2009)

	Sept. 2009	% of Sales	Sept. 2008	% of Sales
$0-$150k	190	10.4%	115	6.6%
$150-$200k	383	20.9%	235	13.6%
$200k-$250k	416	22.7%	420	24.3%
$250k-$400k	569	31.0%	633	36.6%
$400k-$500k	142	7.7%	170	9.8%
$500k-$750k	96	5.2%	114	6.6%
$750k – $1 million +	38	2.1%	44	2.5%

% of Sales by Price Range, Combined (September 2009)

	Sept. 09	Sept. 08
Below $250k	53.9%	44.5%
Below $400k	85.0%	81.1%
Above $500k	7.3%	9.1%

As you can see, not quite as high as Phoenix, but still 85% of sales in Portland were below $400k, which is up about 4% from last September.

Also note that sales below $250k are up 9.4% from last September. I suspect a lot of those sales can be attributed to the $8,000 tax credit (although some investors may also be cashing in on some lower priced homes as well).

The tax credit is set to expire on November 30, and the debate rages on in Washington over its extension. It seems to have given the market here a boost, so it will be interesting to see how the market fares if/when it expires.

If the tax credit does indeed expire, it would still take a lot for things to get worse this winter compared to last year. Last January we saw sales activity drag to the lowest total in the Portland metro area that we had seen since RMLS™ began keeping records in 1992.

What do you think? Did the tax credit help? Should it be extended? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear your opinion!

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of October 5-11

Activity Slides in Oregon & Washington

When comparing the week of October 5 – 11 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox decreased 7.7% in Washington and 10.4% in Oregon.

Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.

August 2009 Market Action Released

The latest edition of Market Action is now available to RMLS™ subscribers on RMLSweb. To view the latest reports, log on to RMLSweb and under the links section on the left side, there is a link that says “Latest Market Action” in red. A new window should open with all of the latest reports.

If you’re not an RMLS™ subscriber, but would like to see the latest Market Action report for your area, feel free to contact a Realtor® who is an RMLS™ subscriber and they can provide you with the report and further insight into local market conditions.

Stay tuned, as we will offer a few market highlights on the blog tomorrow!

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6

Lockbox Activity Down Over Labor Day Weekend

It appears some house hunters took a break to get in that last camping trip or to prepare their kids for school. In Washington, the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes was down 8% when comparing the week of August 24-30 to the week of August 31-September 6. In Oregon activity was also down 5.5%.

Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of Aug. 24-30

Washington Unchanged, Oregon Down Slightly

In Washington, the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes was unchanged and in Oregon activity was down 1%. These stats reflect a comparison of the week of August 24-30 with the week of August 17-23.

Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through August 24

Lockbox activity down slightly

After an increase last week, lockbox activity dipped slightly in the week of August 10-16 compared to the prior week. In Washington, the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes decreased 3.4% and in Oregon activity was down 1.4%.

Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.

The $8K Tax Credit and its Effect on Portland Metro Real Estate

There’s been some encouraging news lately in the RMLS™ market areas. The number of sales and pending sales are finally outpacing the totals from the same month in 2008. How much of it might be a result of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, though?

I recently put together some statistics for the Oregonian on the Portland metro area, and thought I would share them with you.

There is no question that home sales in the lower-end of the market have seen a big jump this year. In 2007, homes priced between $0 and $249,999 only made up 35% of all sales in the Portland metro area. In 2009 so far, they make up 49.6% of the market.

As you’d expect, coinciding with the increase in lower-end homes is a drop in high-end homes. Homes priced $500,000 or above have dropped from 13.5% of the market in 2007, to just 8.2% of the market this year.

Click on the graph for a larger view

The question is: what will happen when the $8,000 tax credit expires on December 1?

I know the tax credit definitely got me off the fence & I can literally think of 15 of my friends and acquaintances (off the top of my head) who have bought or are actively looking to buy.

So in my humble opinion, there’s little doubt that the tax credit spurred people to buy. But as the deadline for the credit approaches, it should be interesting to see where sales go.

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through August 9

Lockbox activity rebounds

After a few down weeks, lockbox activity rebounded in the week of August 3-9 compared to the prior week. In Washington, the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes increased 18.2% and in Oregon, activity was up 8.8%.

Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.

July Market Action Released: Reports Show Improvement in Oregon & Southwest Washington Real Estate

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:

Note how 2009 line is virtually flat compared to 2007 & 2008

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.

Pending sales: Same-month pending sales in Clark County grew for the fourth month in a row at 30.3%. In fact, Clark County pending sales not only surpassed July 2008 levels, but they came close to hitting July 2007 levels. With the exception of the Mid-Columbia region and Union County, same-month pending sales grew in all of our primary service areas.

Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through August 2

Downward trend continues

Comparing July 20, 2009 through August 2, 2009 the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes decreased 15% in Washington and 5.4% in Oregon.

Click the chart for a larger view (Oregon, left; Washington, right)

Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.