Chuck Slothower//August 28, 2017//
Portland home prices continue to rise despite a growing inventory for prospective buyers.
The median sale price hit $395,000 in July. That’s up from $390,000 in June, and represents an 11.3 percent jump from July 2016.
Inventory was at its highest point in 28 months, at 2.1 months. That’s still “significantly below a balanced market,” said Kerri Hartnett, president of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors.
“It’s still a seller’s market,” she said.
On average, homes spent only 33 days on the market in July. That was down from 38 in June, but up slightly from 32 a year ago.
In many cases, prospective buyers are offering more than list price, even in the absence of multiple offers.
“Buyers and their Realtors have the mindset that they’re still in a very hot market – and they are – and they have to come in strong,” Hartnett said.
A lack of available homes continues to be the dominant feature in Portland’s market. The share of Multnomah County residents who own homes has been in steady decline, from 60.8 percent in 2009 to 56.9 percent in 2015, according to federal census data.
Portland’s real-estate market is also strongly seasonal, with a lull typically occurring in late summer after busy spring and early summer periods.
“The trend typically in a healthy market, if you will, we see less sales in June and July,” Hartnett said. “Things will ramp up again starting now (and into) September, October.”
Hartnett said she’s noticed more young families relocating, and not as many baby boomers downsizing. Some older residents are choosing to renovate their homes rather than buy new ones.
“I have definitely been working with millennials, which is great to see, because people have the misunderstanding that they can’t buy homes,” Hartnett said. “But they are.”
For the year to date, the median sale price rose 11.2 percent to $378,000, up from $340,000 in 2016. If that trend line continues, Portland is likely to see median prices break the $400,000 barrier at some point next year.