The Portland-area residential real estate market is seeing more and more of a rare sight in recent years: for-sale signs.

Inventory has begun to flow into the parched residential market. In June, the Portland-metro area had 2.1 months of inventory, according to RMLS, a listing service. That was the highest inventory for the month of June since 2014, and the highest inventory overall since January.

That should provide a degree of relief to prospective homebuyers. The residential market has been constrained by limited inventory caused by a constellation of factors, including a slow pace of homebuilding, a hot economy and fewer homeowners opting to migrate between states. The low inventory resulted in bidding wars, with desirable Portland-area properties often receiving multiple cash offers above the asking price.

This year’s more plentiful inventory so far hasn’t slowed the meteoric rise in home prices. The median sale price of Portland-area homes reached $417,900 in June, a new record and above $400,000 for a third consecutive month, according to RMLS data. Prices were up 7.2 percent from a year earlier.

“The market’s still doing well,” said Edward Petrossian, a RE/MAX agent and president of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors. “Some adjustments have come in place for people who were expecting to have sales quicker. In general, prices have been holding pretty good.”

Homes sold in June spent an average of 37 days on the market, the same as a month prior, and down a day from June 2017. Closed and pending sales both fell compared to a year earlier.

Interest rates have moderated following a rising trend earlier this year. The national average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.52 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

“Interest rates are staying steady, so that’s giving a little more confidence to first-time homebuyers,” Petrossian said.

Freddie Mac warned more homes on the market may not be forthcoming.

“Unfortunately, don’t expect much relief from the tight inventory conditions plaguing many markets,” the federal agency stated in a news release. “As seen again last month, new home construction is not picking up to meet demand, and as a result, home prices are still rising at double the pace of income growth.”

Locally, look for sellers to become willing to make deals as the summer moves on, said Cheryle Clunes, principal broker with Summa Real Estate Executives.

“My experience is that in the month of July, we see definitely an increase in inventory, which RMLS data supports,” Clunes said. “We also see sellers become really motivated because they want to take advantage of families coming to move.”

Clunes said to watch for other seasonal trends, including a lull around when schools starts in August and September, followed by a busy late fall.

“In the fall, serious buyers stay on,” she said. “November seems to always be a really busy month.”

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It’s not uncommon for prospective homebuyers in today’s competitive market to send sellers a letter, perhaps with a family photo, pleading for their offer to be accepted.

So, instead, one licensed massage therapist offered a two-hour massage as part of an offer on a home in Southwest Portland. It worked.

“We’re just having to be super creative,” said Lindsey Culver, a principal broker with Premiere Property Group.

Culver is advising potential buyers on ways to stand out from competing offers. In another case, a prospective buyer dropped off cookies.

The unusual approaches reflect a strong seller’s market, with few homes on the market and new migrants flooding into the area amid a surge in employment.

The Portland-metro area had only 1.8 months of inventory for sale in April, according to the listing service RMLS. That was slightly more than both in March (1.6 months) and a year ago (1.7 months), but not enough of an increase to change the underlying dynamics, brokers said.

“The average buyer is looking between the $300,000 to $400,000 mark,” Culver said. “Those are the hardest ones to get. We try everything we can do to get them in a house.”

As the spring buying season reaches its annual peak, the low inventory is also pushing prices up. The median home price in April reached $405,000, according to RMLS. That was up 8.2 percent from $385,000 a year earlier. Many homes are receiving multiple offers.

Combined with higher interest rates, that’s putting more homes beyond the buying power of prospective first-time homebuyers. Average U.S. interest rates for a 30-year mortgage reached 4.47 percent in April, according to Freddie Mac.

Buyers are fast moving into formerly less desirable neighborhoods farther from Portland’s center, including Foster-Powell, Brentwood-Darlington and Montavilla, Culver said.

“Foster-Powell is popular,” she said.

Most buyers are placing offers on three to five homes before one is accepted, said Alexander Phan, a principal broker at Keller Williams Realty Professionals-Phan Hall Property Group. Phan focuses on the Beaverton and Aloha submarkets.

“It’s not letting up,” he said. “We still are getting multiple offers.”

More prospective buyers, seeking to avoid a bidding war, are putting in offers the second week a property is on the market, Phan said. In some cases, that has just postponed a bidding war by a week.

“Those poor buyers,” Phan said. “There’s still very few homes for sale. Affordable housing is still very challenging to find. There’s not a lot of options.”

Some prospective buyers have decided to jump into the market now with the expectation that interest rates will continue to increase, Phan said.

Sellers must be prepared to move quickly once their home is listed, Culver said.

“We usually can get – from the time we go on the market on a Wednesday – we can get them in escrow by Monday or Tuesday,” she said.

Little new construction is occurring in Portland’s west side, said Edward Petrossian, a RE/MAX agent and president of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors. New homes in Thompson Woods, in the Bonny Slope area, are selling in the $700,000 range, he said.

Construction of a planned development, West Ridge Estates in Forest Heights, is expected to begin in a few months, Petrossian said.

Nationally, the median sales price reached $312,400 in April, up 0.4 percent compared to a year earlier. Sales jumped 11.6 percent.

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