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Portland’s single-family real estate market is poised for another spring and summer of tight inventory and rising prices, agents say.

Portland has less than two months of inventory, and it’s only going to get tighter, said Kerri Hartnett, president of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors and a Keller Williams agent.

鈥淲e’re pretty much in a seller’s market on steroids, if you will,鈥� Hartnett said. 鈥淚 kind of see that continuing. Every spring between April and July or August, that’s when the market really takes to tightening. I feel like it’s going to get tighter.鈥�

Any further appreciation would exacerbate Portland’s already costly home prices.

In February, the median sales price for Portland-metro homes hit $353,400, up 12 percent from a year ago, according to RMLS, a real-estate listing service. That was also a 1 percent increase from January.

Hartnett said a lender she works with calculated that homes in close-in Portland are appreciating at a rate of $134 a day, or about $49,000 a year.

鈥淯ntil our inventory does increase, we’re going to see appreciation for sure,鈥� she said.

As the spring homebuying season commences, brokers are busy.

鈥淚’m seeing heavy activity on buyers and we’re beginning to see some new listings,鈥� said Edward Petrossian, president-elect of the Realtors’ association and a RE/MAX Equity Group broker.

Houses that sold in February spent an average of 62 days on the market.

鈥淲e still have multiple offers on listings, and buyers have to really work hard to get what they want,鈥� Petrossian said.

Realtors are watching the state Legislature closely for changes that could affect them. House Bill 2006, for instance, would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, and cap it for homebuyers with gross income of $200,000 for joint returns and $100,000 for single tax filings.

鈥淭hat would affect us adversely,鈥� Petrossian said.

Job growth in Portland can be expected to continue to support the housing market, but higher prices are beginning to make a dent in buying power, he said.