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re:PDX is presented by Claire Widmark, broker affiliated with M Realty LLC in Portland, Oregon.
Phone: 971-275-3691
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Hyperlocal treatment for Portland suburb real estate market
Following (or am I leading?) the trends of hyper-localism (and here and here), I’m pleased to announce the launch of a geographically targeted real estate blog for West Linn, Oregon: move2westlinn.com.
West Linn is a roughly 25,000-resident suburb south of Portland. With great neighborhoods, schools, and attractive physical surroundings, it ranks high on the list of communities for relocation candidates in Oregon.
My partner in crime, Jody McLeod, lives in West Linn and is particularly tuned into the schools and city politics. And since our brokerage is located in town, we view a lot of properties and meet a lot of customers here. It is natural fit for us to provide local real estate coverage for this micro-market.
Our mission as it were:
…in the case of creating move2westlinn.com, it was simply a matter of acknowledging that real estate is a LOCAL endeavor.
Best served by local feet on the street. Local eyes on the inventory. Local knowledge of community news and events. Highlighting local homeowners, business people, and resources.
There are many directory or community sites, typically created by companies looking to generate advertising revenue or leads for real estate agents. But these websites provide little additional value to the reader. Even the new flashy, map-driven property valuation national sites tell only part of the story.
We aren’t looking to be a dead-end list of links or an advertisement-strewn real estate site. We aren’t looking to dish gossip or parrot the local newspaper.
We do, however, want to help potential West Linn residents gain a local perspective on housing, lifestyle, and livability. Home values, neighborhood descriptions, architecture, parks, schools, commutes, city planning, and local businesses all add up to paint the entire picture. We are the blank canvas…for now.
Please a peek at the newborn move2westlinn.com. More coverage to come, so add it to your newsreader.
NOTE: re:PDX will continue with its broader coverage of Portland metro area real estate.
[tags] local, new, real estate, blog, coverage, hyper-localism, homes, housing, West Linn, Oregon [/tags]
12-Month Appreciation, Average & Median Residential Sale Prices
Portland-area home prices continue to climb, albeit at a slower pace than in the past couple years. As reported yesterday, RMLS reports that the 12-month residential sale price average from February 2006 to February 2007 was 12.8% over the same period 2005-2006.
A more telling statistic perhaps is comparing the average and median prices for just year-to-date sales through February 2006 and 2007, where the numbers are 6.5% average and 5.9% median price appreciation.
Here is the year-to-date breakdown, by market area, for average and median sale prices, plus the 12-month average home price appreciation.
| Area | YTD Avg. Sale Price | YTD Median Sale Price | 12-Mo. Appreciation |
| Lake Oswego / West Linn | $533,700 | $452,500 | 15.0% |
| West Portland | $405,300 | $359,000 | 7.0% |
| Tigard/Tualatin/ Sherwood/Wilsonville | $378,600 | $333,000 | 8.0% |
| Milwaukie / Clackamas | $357,500 | $310,000 | 19.1% |
| NW Washington County | $352,900 | $328,500 | 8.3% |
| Oregon City / Canby | $318,500 | $294,200 | 13.4% |
| Northeast Portland | $301,600 | $265,900 | 13.3% |
| Hillsboro / Forest Grove | $295,800 | $262,500 | 15.1% |
| Yamhill County | $282,400 | $250,000 | 17.9% |
| Beaverton / Aloha | $281,400 | $260,000 | 11.2% |
| Gresham / Troutdale | $275,000 | $252,500 | 15.1% |
| Southeast Portland | $264,700 | $234,000 | 14.5% |
| North Portland | $261,800 | $245,000 | 15.9% |
| Columbia County | $241,000 | $233,000 | 12.5% |
Source: RMLS, March 2007.
[tags] Portland, metro, homes, housing, price, appreciation, median, average, increase, real estate [/tags]
Portland Area Market Activity – March 2007
Portland’s real estate market shows some springtime signs of life with most recent results through March 1.
The market in the Portland metro area seems to be holding its own through the first two months of 2007. Although we’re seeing continued trends of increases in new listings, plus a slower sales pace, it hasn’t given way to an unhealthy amount of inventory or significant pricing declines.
It is, however, taking longer to sell homes–now on average, 66 days (vs. 45 at this time last year). At the current pace of sales, the 9,901 active residential listings at the end of February would take about 5.2 months to sell out if no new inventory were added.
New listings in February 2007 were up over 22% over February 2006. Closed sales are down about 8% over this time last year.
The average appreciation over 12 months remains strong at 12.8% and the median price is now 13.6% higher than a year ago. The year-to-date average sale price for a home in the Portland metro area is now at $323,800 and the median at $256,500.
The impacts of tightening down on mortgage lending criteria for 100% loans or credit-challenged buyers have not yet been felt here locally, yet. Nor have foreclosures, but many will keep their eye on those statistics–both to measure economic health, and to find potential bargains.
Come back tomorrow for a more detailed breakdown of home price appreciation, plus median and average sale prices for the year by market area.
[tags] Portland, Oregon, real estate, market, results, statistics, appreciation, median, housing, prices, average [/tags]
(Results reported by RMLS, March 2007.)
More Portland Top 10 List Bliss
Love him or hate him, that David Letterman guy was sure on to something when he began those Top 10 lists. Perhaps its our media-fractured attention span–we have enough focus to listen or read 10 bite-sized items, and then we’re off to the next thing.
Or maybe its about pride in being on one of those lists. It sorta reminds me of high school when everyone grouped around the bulletin board to see if they made the cheerleading or football squad.
Nevertheless, lists are fun and in past posts, I’ve touched on home price appreciation, inbound migration, PDX as a leading travel destination, and our dog-friendliness. To get caught up, here are the recent lists in which Portlandia racks up additional plaudits for livability and other factors.
- #4 Best City in America to have a Baby — Fit Pregnancy
- #2 City to eat smart, be fit, and live well — Cooking Light (Seattle takes the top spot)
- #6 Most Energetic City (Best Active Lifestyle) — Sperling’s Best Places
- #1 Sustainability Ranking — SustainLane.org. Here’s a link to the city study.
- #10 Most Literate City — AMLC and Connecticut State University.
- #9 Most Fit City — Men’s Fitness
Alas, all is not good news.
- #3 Highest Price Gasoline in U.S. — The Portland Business Journal
[tags] Top, 10, lists, livability, health, lifestyle, Portland, Oregon, gasoline prices [/tags]
Portland State’s State of the State’s Real Estate
Are you a tea-leaf reader? Crystal-ball gazer? Want to get in touch with your inner economist? Ok, perhaps you are just looking for substantive facts documenting the state of the Portland-area real estate market.
Did you know that we have our own Center for Real Estate Studies department at Portland State University? Turns out they’ve begun a Quarterly Real Estate Report with some interesting facts and figures, plus some editorial content by one of Oregon’s heavyweight analysts.
The Portland State University Center for Real Estate report comments on the local economy and national housing trends, as well as the industrial, office, and commercial markets. An excerpt from the report, talking about the local residential market segment:
In summary, we expect demand to decline substantially in the next year. This will be reflected in overall market activity as well as net new demand. The development community is expected to reduce the rate of new construction, but not rapidly enough to prevent a significant rise in standing inventories and a loss of pricing power. Pricing will see modest appreciation on average over the next years, with effective drops in pricing for some market products and geographic areas. The market is entering a more volatile period, in which general market inflation can no longer be counted upon to rescue poorly-conceived projects.
Here is Volume 1, Issue 1 released in January. It’s a good overview, but I am curious to see if the quarterly frequency will be too short of an interval for any substantive trend reporting.
[tags] Portland, real estate, forecast, report, university, housing, commercial, office, industrial [/tags]
