Oregonian Article July, 25th 2008 - Portland home prices still slide from a year ago. December 2008 Market Action Report- The year ended quietly as sales activity in the Portland metro continued to slow. However, the level of inventory dropped after reaching a record high in November. The number of closed sales (987) hit its lowest point since February 1992 (905). Pending transactions (810) were at a record low since RMLS™ began reporting in 1992, the previous record was 845 in December 1994. Comparing December 2008 with December 2007, closed sales fell 34% and pending sales dropped 34.2%. New listings also decreased 17.4%. October 2008 Market Action Report- Market Activity continues to be on the decline when compared to 2007. Pending sales fell 39.6% when comparing October 2008 with October 2007. The number of closed sales and new listings also fell, 21.4% and 21.6% respectively. See table below. Comparing October to September, we also saw a decline across the board, although not as intense as the comparison above. There were 25.6% (1,268 v. 1,705) fewer accepted offers in October. Additionally, there were 14.2% (3,605 v. 4,200) less new listings added to the inventory. Further, there was a 10.7% (1,465 v. 1,640) drop in closed sales. At the month’s rate of sales, the 16,257 active residential properties would last approximately 11.1 months. September 2008 Market Action Report- September Residential Highlights While sales activity in the Portland metro area continues to slide, the slope of the decline leveled off a bit in September.From August to September,closed sales have averaged a 12.9%decrease over the last five years. This year, however, closed sales only fell 7.3% (1,640 v. 1,770) from August to September. Pending sales dropped 10.6% (1,705 v. 1,908). New listings also decreased 4.5% (4,200 v. 4,398). Similarly, comparing September this year with September 2007, pending sales are down 11.7% and closed sales dropped 12.1% (see table below). That’s less than half the drop we saw at the same time last year. At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,006 active residential properties would last approximately 10.4 months. Third Quarter Report In the third quarter of 2008, there was a 15% decrease in new listings (14,089 v. 16,573) when compared to the same period a year ago. Closed sales fell 26.4% (5,409 v. 7,351), while pending sales dropped 18.5% (5,471v. 6,711) Sale Prices The average sale price for September 2008 was down 5.6% compared to September 2007, while the median sale price dropped 5.8%. See table below. Month-to-month, the average sale price and median sale price are both down when compared with August levels; the average sale price dropped 4.8% ($315,300 v. $331,300) and the median sale price was down 4.6% ($267,000 v. $280,000). July 2008 Market Action Report- July sales activity mirrored June’s numbers in 2008. However, activity continues to decrease compared to the same month a year ago. Looking at July 2008 compared with June 2008, pending sales picked up a slight 0.4% (2,003 v. 1,996). Closed sales fell 2.5% (1,831 v. 1,877), however. New listings increased 0.5% (5,237 v. 5,213).Comparing July 2008 with July 2007 shows a different story. Pending sales decreased 22.3%, while closed sales were down 30.2%. New listings also dropped 9.9%. See table below. At the month’s rate of sales, the 18,219 active residential listings would last approximately 10 months if no new listings were to enter the market. June 2008 Market Action Report- June sales activity was mixed when compared to that of May 2008. On the other hand, activity continues to follow a downward trend compared with 2007. From May to June, there was a 0.8% increase in closed sales (1,877 v. 1,863) - the second straight month of increasing sales. New listings also grew a slight 0.6% (5,213 v. 5,182). Pending sales, however, dropped 6% (1,996 v. 2,124) . On the other hand, comparing June 2008 with June 2007, closed sales dropped 31.3% and pending sales decreased 30%. New listings were also down 16.3%. See table below. At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,788 active residential listings would last approximately 9.5 months, up slightly from 9.2 months in May. May 2008 Market Action Report- In May, sales activity in the Portland metro area picked up over last month. Compared with last May, however, activity continues to trend downward. From April to May this year, closed sales were up 17.8% (1,863 v. 1,582) and pending sales grew 2.6% (2,124 v. 2,070). New listings dropped 2.1% (5,182 v. 5,295). Comparing May 2008 with May 2007, new listings were down 12.1%. In addition, pending sales and closed sales were down 30.5% and 33.5%, respectively. See table below. At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,066 active residential listings would last 9.2 months, down from 10.3 months in April. April 2008 Market Action Report- Comparing April 2008 to April2007, market activity remains slow. On the other hand, month-to-month activity (March v. April) showed growth in some categories. One area of growth from March to April was pending sales, which grew 6.8% (2,070 v. 1,938). This is the first increase in pending sales from March to April since 2005. New listings also grew 2.7% (5,295 v. 5,155). Closed sales dropped 6.4% (1,582 v. 1,691). This drop is on par with the last three years, though, as closed sales have dropped an average of 6.7% from March to April. On the other hand, when comparing April 2008 with the same month in 2007, transactions were down across the board. New listings fell 2.9%. Closed sales and pending sales decreased 39% and 31%, respectively. At the month’s rate of sales, the 16,370 active residential listings would last 10.3 months, up from 9.1 months in March. |
