Portland Real Estate Market Activity - January 2008
The reporting on January 2008 Portland real estate sale results is likely to send panic waves through the home seller community.
I mentioned Friday that housing inventory is up to 12.8 months supply–the highest level in seven years. This metric, which is calculated by dividing the active number of listings by the number of homes sold in the previous month, was driven high by unusually slow sales for the month (down 32% when compared to 2007). Pending sales for January are down by a third, too.
With those kind of numbers, it might seem surprising that year-over-year average appreciation is up 1.8% over 2007, and the month-over-month median is up a full percentage point from December. But Jeff Kempe correctly points out at the Oregonian’s Front Porch blog, that January sales numbers are the result of efforts sown in November and December pending sales.
From my vantage point, buyer traffic seems to be recovering–lots of showings, open house traffic, web hits. But the question is, when will buyers capitalize on bulging inventory? Or will fears of falling knives keep them at bay?
For January, the average sale price was $342,900 and the median (or middlemost value) was $280,000 for homes in the Portland metro area. Average time to market a home was 83 days (vs. 65 in Jan. 2007).
Below are the January 2008 results for average and median sale prices, appreciation, and time on market (or DOM*), sorted by average sale price.
| Area | YTD Avg. Sale Price | YTD Median Sale Price | 12-Mo. Apprec. | DOM |
| Lake Oswego / West Linn | $588,800 | $449,000 | 7.5% | 77 |
| West Portland | $503,100 | $399,000 | 4.6% | 89 |
| NW Washington County | $418,300 | $384,600 | 6.3% | 78 |
| Tigard / Tualatin / Sherwood / Wilsonville | $377,700 | $350,000 | 4.8% | 81 |
| Milwaukie / Clackamas | $369,000 | $320,000 | -6.4% | 93 |
| Northeast Portland | $329,900 | $265,000 | 7.3% | 81 |
| Oregon City / Canby | $319,300 | $295,000 | 1.1% | 103 |
| Hillsboro / Forest Grove | $280,600 | $259,900 | 4.2% | 93 |
| Southeast Portland | $279,600 | $245,900 | 6.7% | 69 |
| Beaverton / Aloha | $275,100 | $245,300 | 3.2% | 67 |
| North Portland | $268,100 | $250,200 | 8.3% | 76 |
| Yamhill County | $263,500 | $220,000 | 5.5% | 107 |
| Columbia County | $255,800 | $218,000 | 10.9% | 115 |
| Gresham / Troutdale | $249,600 | $238,000 | 4.4% | 80 |
Source: RMLS, February 2008.
* Note: DOM or days on market may exhibit reporting inconsistencies and should be used to analyze trends only.
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6 comments February 18th, 2008
