We are seeing a bit of a leveling off. We are not seeing as many multiple offers or prices shooting up above the list price, although we are still seeing some. We are still in a "lack of supply" driven market with inventory only at 1.1 months.
 
September 2021 vs. August 2021
New Listings:      3,760 vs. 3,698, increase of 1.7%
Pending Sales:   3,170 vs. 3,535, decrease of 10.3%
Closed Sales:      3,167 vs. 3,219, decrease of 1.6%
 
The decrease in pending sales is somewhat seasonal with the slowdown going into the holidays/winter.

With interest rates still very good, in the 3% range, buying power is strengthened because there is less competition forcing buyers to have to offer well over asking price.

It certainly is a case-by-case basis on whether homes are selling at, above or even below list price, but we are starting to see things normalize. We’re not likely to see a true drop-off as buyers who have been discouraged and frustrated by the heavy competition of the market will start to get back in the market looking for homes.

It really is a fabulous time to be buying or selling!

If there is anything that we can do, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’re never too busy to help you or anyone you know. And we really appreciate all your business!

We listened to a Real Estate webinar recently – Brian Buffini’s Bold Predictions Mid-Year Update – which we found very interesting and thought we’d share some tidbits with you. Also on the webinar was the National Association of Realtors chief economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun.

One of the most asked questions we get from clients is regarding a potential Real Estate Bubble – “Is the market going to crash like it did in 2007-2008?”

The consensus from both Brian Buffini and Dr. Yun was no, there isn’t a Real Estate crash coming for several reasons which are listed below (keep in mind these are national stats).

• We have almost 4 times LESS inventory of houses for sale today vs 2007. 
• Buyers are putting larger down payments today (they have more equity in their home) vs 2007.
  • In 2007, 45% of 1st time buyers financed 100% of their home (Zero $ down) vs 17% of 1st time buyers today.
• Lending restrictions are tight – it’s much harder to qualify for a loan today than in 2007 leading to fewer foreclosures. 
• Fixed rate mortgages are very low – currently in the 3% range – vs adjustable rate mortgages in 2007.

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Both Brian Buffini and Dr. Yun believe that housing inventory will increase in the next 6 months or so, due to an increase in new home construction, people that have put off a move because of the COVID pandemic and now decide to sell and a small percentage of owners will need to sell because the foreclosure moratorium will expire.

Please give us a call if you'd like to discuss how this affects your real estate goals.

We decided to compare May 2019 to May 2021 to get a closer comparison against a more “typical” year
rather than comparing the data to 2020, that is skewed due to the issues surrounding the COVID pandemic.
​So, keep in mind that there is a two-year gap between these numbers.

MAY 2019 COMPARED TO May 2021
NEW LISTINGS are down 19%, with 4,902 vs 3,971 new homes on the market.
PENDING SALES are up 12.9%, with 3,292 vs 3,717 homes going under contract during the month. (Sellers who have accepted offers but have not closed yet).
CLOSED SALES are up 7.1%, with 2,969 vs 3,183 home closing escrow during the month.
 
AVERAGE SALES PRICE: 2019 vs 2021
$471,200 vs $582,200, or a 23.5% increase
 
MEDIAN SALES PRICE: 2019 vs 2021
$420,000 vs $515,000, or a 22.6% increase
 
MONTHS OF INVENTORY
At the end of May 2021, we have another RECORD low inventory at 0.7 months.  This means that if we don’t put any more homes on the market to sell, it would take us just 3 weeks to sell everything in Portland. By comparison May of 2019 inventory was 2.1.
 
We are in a lack of supply driven market. We have much more demand than houses for sale, plus very low interest rates. It is not uncommon to have multiple offers on homes for sale, so homes are often going for more than asking price.
 
It is a great time to be selling.  It is a little tougher to buy, but we have great strategies that have been successful in helping buyers get into homes they want.
 
If there is anything that we can do for you, please give us a shout!  We are here to help however we can. If you are looking to make a move, or you know someone who is, we would love the referral.
 
We hope everyone continues has a better 2021.