Market Action - May 2006

June 14th, 2006

The residential real estate market in the Portland metro area continues to hold its own with the announcement of May 2006 results.

Closed and pending sales are down year-to-date and new listings have increased, giving buyers more choices than this time last year. However, appreciation gains continue to range between 13 and 28% (depending on the community) over 12 months ago.

Year-to-date new listings are up 9% over the January-May time period in 2005. In May 2006, new listings jumped nearly 28% over May 2006 (5,620 vs. 4,395). Pending and closed sales are down 10.4% and 8.4% respectively from last year at this time.

The spate of new listings has kept inventory at levels much higher than a year ago. Current inventory stands at 2.3 months, meaning that at the current rate of sales, the available supply of homes for sale today would sell out in 2.3 months if no new listings were added.

Home price appreciation remains strong. Twelve-month average appreciation for Portland-area residential properties is 17.4%. The average sale price over the past 12 months in the market is now $301,300 (vs. $256,700 for 05/2004 through 06/2005).

The average market time for properties year-to-date is 43 days, versus 51 days this time last year.

For a more complete grid of average and median sale prices, appreciation, and days on market by community, visit my Market Action page.

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Related posts:

1. Portland-Area Residential Market Activity - April 2006
2. Portland Real Estate Market Activity - July 2006 results
3. Market Activity - June 2006

Entry Filed under: Market Activity