What's Happening in the Portland, Oregon Real Estate Market (May 2023)?

"What's happening in the Portland, OR Metro Market right now?"

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Is the market down? Are prices falling? First, let's look at some data from the past to give us some context for what we're looking at in 2023 (sourced from this fun interactive site):

• Between Q1 2017-Q1 2022, home prices in Oregon grew 63.1%!
• Between Q1 2021-Q1 2022, home prices in Oregon grew 18%!

*Nationally, home prices have grown at an average rate of 4.4% per year since 1991. As you can see, we clearly have exceeded that average during the 2020-2022 buying surge.

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In the Portland Metro area, here's a snapshot of what is happening according to theRMLS (Regional Multiple Listing Service) from April 2023:

• Median Sale Price is down 5.4% ($560,000 in April 2022 down to $530,000 in April 2023)
• Inventory is up 1.1 months over April 2022 (was 0.8 months in April 2022 vs. 1.9 in April 2023)*
• Total Market Time is up 26 days over April 2022 (was 21 days in April 2022 vs. 47 days in April 2023)

*The RMLS has adjusted the inventory number to include only homes that are move-in ready, bringing that inventory number DOWN to 1.4 months. In our area we have a lot of homes that are listed but not yet under construction.

What does all this mean to you, as a consumer?

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Median Sale Price being down could come as a result of many factors, including sellers lowering their sale price or even offering to pay buyer closing costs. Since Total Market Time is up, that means it's taking longer to sell homes than it did a year ago. Motivated sellers may be lowering the price in order to sell the home faster.

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Inventory is also up, which means there are more homes on the market today than there were a year ago. However, this number needs more explanation. In the real estate world, we consider anything over 6 months of inventory to be a buyer's market. Anything under 6 months would be a seller's market. Since we have 1.4 months of inventory, we are in a seller's market. 

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Interest rates also play a part in why we have such low inventory. I have heard figures state that as many as 99% of all mortgage holders have an interest rate of 6% or less.

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More than half of those have an interest rate of less than 4%!

Even if a move into a different home would make life more comfortable for some folks with a low interest rate (say, into a home that better suits their needs), many aren't seeing the value when their home mortgage cost would then increase substantially--double, even! 

Life events are still driving the real estate market. Life events mean people need to change their living arrangements, and then buy and/or sell a home. In my experience this year, that has absolutely been the case. 

While Portland does give us a good idea as a region, it's a much safer bet to look at your neck of the woods to get the best picture. If you'd like a quick analysis of what is happening in your neck of the woods, let's connect. I'm happy to do the research for you.

Jennifer Schurter is a real estate agent and expert marketer serving the Greater Portland, Oregon Metro area and Willamette Valley of Oregon. If you're looking to get started on a journey to buying a home, selling a home, or investing in real estate assets, you may reach Jennifer at jen@jenschurter.com.​