This Week:
The median single family home price in PORTLAND this week is $324,900. Inventory has been decreasing lately but the market action is falling also. With days on market climbing, these are relatively negative implications for the market.

Price
The market has been on a downward trend recently and this week, while essentially flat, doesn’t
break us out of that cycle.

This chart is dynamic, which means the numbers reported here may be different from the post, depending on when you look at it.

Supply and Demand
Local conditions are currently quite strongly in the Buyer’s Market zone (below 30). The 90-day Market
Action Index stands at 15. With several months of inventory available at the current sales rate, buyers should find ample choice. The Market Action Index answers the question “How’s the market?” by measuring the current rate of sale versus the amount of the inventory. Index above 30 implies Seller’s market conditions. Below 30, conditions favor the buyer.

This chart is dynamic, which means the numbers reported here may be different from the post, depending on when you look at it.

Quartiles
Investigate the market in quartiles - where each quartile is 25% of the homes:
- Most-Expensive 25% of homes
- Upper-Middle 25% of homes
- Lower-middle 25% of homes
- Least-expensive 25% of homes

Subscribe here to receive the full 10 page report for the Pearl District or any other zip code.

See Also: Portland Real Estate Statistics

This Week:
The median single family home price in PORTLAND this week is $324,999. Inventory has been tightening and days-on-market increasing recently. The Market Action Index has been basically flat, not providing strong indication for market conditions.

Portland Real Time Market Profile

Price
The market has been on a downward trend recently and this week, while essentially flat, doesn’t
break us out of that cycle.

Portland Median Price 12-21-2008

Supply and Demand
Local conditions are currently quite strongly in the Buyer’s Market zone (below 30). The 90-day Market
Action Index stands at 15. With several months of inventory available at the current sales rate, buyers should find ample choice. The Market Action Index answers the question “How’s the market?” by measuring the current rate of sale versus the amount of the inventory. Index above 30 implies Seller’s market conditions. Below 30, conditions favor the buyer.

Portland Real Estate Market Action Index

Quartiles
Investigate the market in quartiles - where each quartile is 25% of the homes:
- Most-Expensive 25% of homes
- Upper-Middle 25% of homes
- Lower-middle 25% of homes
- Least-expensive 25% of homes

Portland Real Estate Characteristics by Quartile

Subscribe here to receive the full 10 page report for the Pearl District or any other zip code.

See Also: Portland Real Estate Statistics

Scott Pelley reports on the mortgage crisis that’s far from over, with a second wave of expected defaults on the way that could deepen the bottom of the U.S. recession.

I have argued with just about anybody that will listen that we are far from seeing the end of this crisis. So what does this mean for buyers and sellers in today’s market?

Sellers: If you plan on selling in the next 3-4 years, do it now. If you think you might fall behind on your payments and need to face a possible short sale, deal with it now.

Buyers: If you are planning on holding on to the house for less than 10 years, don’t buy it. If you plan on keeping the house for 4-5 and then renting it out, buy it. Just make sure your numbers make sense if there was no appreciation.

Investors: There are TONS of deals to be had out there, make sure you know what you are doing, and DO NOT throw anybody under the bus. There are many ways to make great money in this market and you can do it while helping, not hurting, others. It looks like there will be great deals for the next few years, don’t ruin your reputation for a few bucks and lose out on future deals.

If you or anybody you know may be facing foreclosure, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We are actively buying and selling investment properties. Even if we don’t buy your home, we have hundreds of buyers waiting to purchase a great home. Please give me a call at 971-235-9561 to discuss your options.

The RMLS released the November 2008 statistics, and nobody should be surprised. Everything is down except the days on market. We are down 39.9% in total sales compared to last November and had the lowest total sales (1,041) in one month since February 1993. Comparing November 2008 to October 2008, new listings dropped 25.5%, pending sales declined 12.6% and closed sales were down 28.9%.

So what does this mean to Portland Real Estate Investors?

It means that there are some great opportunities out there if you look in the right places.  Seller’s have to be motivated if they are putting their home up for sale in this market and during this time of the year.  Obviously the are not all short sales or foreclosures, but quite a few are.

  November 2008 RMLS Market Action (1.1 MiB, 22 hits)

From the Portland Business Journal:
Ten percent of homeowners facing mortgage woes

“The latest look at home foreclosure rates paints a bleak picture: As of the end of September, a record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday the percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up more than 9 percent in the April-June quarter, and up more than 7 percent from a year earlier.

A record 1.35 million homes were in foreclosure in the third quarter, driving the national foreclosure rate up to 2.97 percent, according to the MBA’s National Delinquency Survey. That’s a 76 percent increase from a year ago

At the same time, the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgages rose to 7 percent, up from 5.6 percent a year ago, the association said.

While 20 states showed declines in the rate of foreclosure starts between the second and third quarters, every state but Alaska had an increase in the 90 days or more delinquent category, the MBA said in a release.

Nine states had foreclosure start rates above the national average: Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California, Michigan, Rhode Island, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The others were below the average. No specific numbers for Arizona were immediately available.

Employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

The U.S. tipped into recession last December, a panel of experts declared earlier this week. Since the start of the recession, the economy has lost 1.9 million jobs.”

With one in ten homes facing delinquency, odds seem pretty good that there are some good deals to be made. A quick search on the RMLS showed there are 1532 homes that need a 3rd party approval out of 31,010 active listings. That’s only 5% of the active listings. This doesn’t necessarily mean foreclosure or short sale. It could also be a bankruptcy or even a relocation. Though currently it is the only way to sort out what would be a short sale.