PSU Delivers Q1 Real Estate Report

May 25th, 2007

Our very own Portland State University’s Center for Real Estate has released its quarterly real estate report, covering residential and commercial properties. This report also comments on the apartment market and downtown condos.

Their summary:

For some time, the Northwest has been the last holdout against the nation-wide housing slump. While several areas are still showing appreciation in Oregon, some preliminary signs that the market might dampen are beginning to emerge. Longer days on market and slowing appreciation are two key indications. In addition, there is the decline in net migration of 8.1% from 2005 to 2006. Finally, Oregonians are getting squeezed by energy prices, due to the high cost of fuel from Alaska, which could increase sensitivity to housing prices. While Oregon as a whole will not likely see a plummet as other markets such as Boston have, housing prices and transaction activity will stagnate under current conditions.

Some Findings:

• The housing market has plateaued compared to 2005-2006 when measured by number of days homes are marketed (increasing) and by measuring the actual sale price against the original list price (decreasing).
• Comparing Q1 of 2006 and 2007, the highest appreciating communities were Oregon City/Canby, Lake Oswego/West Linn, Columbia County, and Yamhill County–all at 15 to 17% appreciation.
• Apartment rents are on the rise for the first time since 2002. Condo conversions have reduced available rental inventory, and out-of-state investors see value opportunities in the relatively inexpensive Portland market.
• Instead of selling out in pre-construction phase as in years past, the downtown condo market will take some time to absorb the 1,600 new condo units that will come available over the next 6 months. But, compared to other markets such as Las Vegas and Miami, the Portland market is viewed as a more rational and cautious development environment.

Here’s the link to the report.

Technorati Tags: Portland, Oregon, housing, market, real estate, homes, prices, appreciation, values, Portland State University, PSU

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

Related posts:

1. PSU Real Estate and Urban Studies Report - Q2 2008
2. Portland Real Estate Activity - March 2008
3. Portland Real Estate Market Results - October 2008 Final

Entry Filed under: Forecasts, Market Activity