Are Portland’s Real Estate Market Conditions At Risk?
Interest Rates
The July market condition numbers for the Portland area indicate that this remains a strong seller’s market. At the same time, mortgage interest rates continue to be very low, making it a great time to buy a house. With it being both a seller’s market and a good time to buy in the Portland area, who wins?
Well, everyone.
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates this past July, much to the delight of prospective home buyers. According to Fairways’ own Adnan Khaki, the lowered interest rate could allow buyers up to $45,000 more in purchase price for the same monthly mortgage payment, depending on what the price point is.
This decrease in interest rates meant a very strong market in July. According to Elliot Njus at The Oregonian, Portland area home sales numbers jumped 7.6% in July as compared to the same month a year earlier. This, in turn, mean that the number of houses on the market in the area decreased.
Portland By the Numbers
Chris Merz, a Real Estate Broker with Fox Real Estate Groups, Keller Williams Portland Premiere, states that there is currently approximately 2.3 months’ worth of inventory in the Portland area. That means if no additional homes go up for sale, at the current rate that homes are selling, the homes that are currently on the market will be sold out in 2.3 months. And while, homes are sitting on the market longer – at an average of 43 days – there are also fewer homes being listed for sale. That keeps the marketplace very competitive.
According to Trulia, the median sales price for a house in Portland is $435,995, which is approximately the same as last year at the same time, although higher than the median sales price during the winter months ($410,000 in February, 2019).
A Possible Recession?
With a possible recession looming does this mean bad things for the Portland market? It’s not very likely that Portland will see the kind of volatility that it saw in 2008. However, a downturn in sales, could certainly create more of a buyer’s market, according to the Portland Business Journal.