Portland Condo Market Update - April 2007

April 10th, 2007

For residents with busy lifestyles, or those that require low maintenance ownership, or some needing affordable housing options, the modern condominium or townhouse has become a much more popular form of property ownership in the past several years.

But has the condo craze crested in Portland?

As with the detached, single-family housing market in the Portland area, the condo and townhome market is experiencing something of a listing glut. My analysis of the multiple listing service shows that there are two and a half times more condo/townhome inventory on the market than May 2006. Over 2,450 listings now sit active on the market, and this doesn’t include by-owner sales, private listings, and in-house listings.

What constitutes the ‘average’ condo these days? As of April 9, 2007, the average condo in the Portland metro area was listed for $360,500, had 1,360 sq. ft., and has been on the market around 95 days.

Below are the current (again, as of April 9, 2007) active condo and attached listings, sorted by community area. The greatest number of condos can be found in the Portland West area, which includes the downtown core.

A few caveats….Remember that most condos under development do not put their pre-sales (or under construction) listings in the Multiple Listing Service. Also, the city center listings include 168 properties in ‘under construction’ status, averaging $757,000 and 1,448 sq. ft., and 229 days on the market. In all market areas, the days on market averages can be heavily impacted by projects under construction.

Property owners in the city center are perhaps at most risk. An unprecedented period of new construction in the Pearl District, the South Waterfront, Northwest, and now the Pearl extension has added hundreds and hundreds of lofts, 1- and 2-bedroom properties at what is now over $500 per sq. ft. One ‘casualty’ of the condo glut was the recent news that the Ladd Tower would be developed as a luxury apartment complex, perhaps in response to both the trends in new construction and an improving rental market.

Properties such as the Strand, Riverscape and the Meriwether have several listings in the MLS. More units will be coming on the market over the next several months as projects near their completion date, including the Benson, Waterfront Pearl, the Casey, the Wyatt, the Civic, the John Ross and the Metropolitan. What speculative investors that are left in town will likely be placing their unlived-in units on the market upon closing.

Outlying areas are also experiencing a bulge in listings, but my guess is that they will absorb these listings in a timely manner. And with the income from rental property on the upswing, I suspect we’ll see fewer condo conversions of apartment complexes.

Technorati Tags: Portland, Oregon, condo, condominium, townhouse, townhome, attached, real estate

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Related posts:

1. Portland Condo Market Update - August 2007
2. Portland Condo Market Update - May 2008
3. Condo Market Update - August 2006

Entry Filed under: Market Activity, Relocation