A Preview of Portland’s May 2008 Real Estate Results

The Portland real estate market bounces back from a lackluster April with increased sales and higher average and median prices, but still lags in comparison to May 2007 results.

Note: These numbers are an early survey, and may differ slightly from RMLS calculations which will come out around the 15th.

Unit sales (1,830 homes) are up 15% over April (1,582), but down 35% from May 2007. Historically, May sales run 5 to 10% higher than April sales, but 1,830 homes is more in line with winter season averages. It is the lowest May figure since 1996.

The median price of $288,900 rebounded from April’s $275,000 result. Compared to May 2007, it registers as an 8% decline ($297,000). The average sale in the Portland metro area was $335,500 (vs. $325,000 in April), again down about 7% from a year ago.

Sales prices for homes sold in the month averaged 93% of their original list price and took an average of 71 days to sell. With available homes running around the 17,000 level, it would take over 9 months to absorb inventory at the current sales pace.

On a market area basis compared to April, NE Portland, SE Portland and Gresham saw gains in both sold properties and average price (NoPo took the month off). Southwest Portland, Lake Oswego/West Linn, Tigard/Tualatin/Wilsonville/Sherwood improved in units sold, but made price concessions to get inventory cleared. I’ll follow up with full community results when the RMLS stats come out around the 15th.

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1 comment June 6th, 2008