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Geithner Sale Foiled By His Own Policies?
A real estate Friday Funny.
Why intelligent people like Robert Shiller appear on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report is beyond me (look at his body language about halfway through). But it makes for good comedy.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Home Crisis Investigation | ||||
| www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
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When Renting Doesn’t Turn Out So Well
Despite the current popular advice to not buy a home in a recessionary economy, here’s some counterpoint regarding the risks of renting.
Willamette Week shares these stories of Room 120 at the Multnomah County Courthouse, where tenants and landlords do battle.
I’m not being a Realtor shill for sharing this. Owning isn’t for everyone or every season, but it does provide you with more stability and control over your home life.
Photo courtesy of sashafatcat, used under Creative Commons license.
Portland Values Plateau in Case-Shiller Index
Like other markets across the nation, Portland’s housing values have leveled some as the peak purchasing season has arrived, according to today’s Case-Shiller Index report.
Portland showed the ninth-best price performance in the index with a -16.3% decline over the past 12 months. Seattle is close behind at -16.6%. The Las Vegas and Phoenix markets have lost another one-third of their property values in the past 12 months, and are down over 50% from the peak of the market. Ouch.
Here is the index report, sorted by 1-year performance.
| Metropolitan Area | May-09 Level |
May/April Change (%) |
April/March Change (%) |
1-Year Change (%) |
| Dallas | 116.54 | 1.90% | 1.70% | -4.10% |
| Denver | 123.78 | 1.30% | 1.50% | -4.60% |
| Cleveland | 102.11 | 4.10% | 1.20% | -6.20% |
| Boston | 148.77 | 1.60% | 0.40% | -7.20% |
| Charlotte | 119.80 | 0.90% | -0.50% | -10.00% |
| New York | 170.51 | 0.00% | -1.60% | -12.20% |
| Washington | 169.49 | 1.30% | 0.80% | -14.90% |
| Atlanta | 105.69 | 0.30% | 0.30% | -15.00% |
| Portland | 146.97 | 0.10% | -0.60% | -16.30% |
| Seattle | 148.96 | -0.30% | 0.20% | -16.60% |
| Chicago | 123.68 | 1.10% | 0.00% | -17.50% |
| San Diego | 145.06 | 0.40% | -0.10% | -18.50% |
| Los Angeles | 159.18 | -0.10% | -0.90% | -19.80% |
| Tampa | 140.35 | 0.00% | -0.70% | -20.80% |
| Minneapolis | 109.77 | 1.20% | -0.80% | -21.70% |
| Detroit | 70.05 | 0.20% | -1.50% | -24.50% |
| Miami | 144.59 | -0.80% | -2.00% | -25.20% |
| San Francisco | 120.16 | 1.40% | 0.60% | -26.10% |
| Las Vegas | 109.49 | -2.60% | -3.50% | -32.00% |
| Phoenix | 103.56 | -0.90% | -2.20% | -34.20% |
| Composite-10 | 151.00 | 0.40% | -0.70% | -16.80% |
| Composite-20 | 139.84 | 0.50% | -0.60% | -17.10% |
From the report:
“The pace of descent in home price values appears to be slowing” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “There is a clear inflection point in the year-over-year data, due to four consecutive months of improved rates of return, after the steep decline that began in the fall of 2005. In addition to the 10-City and 20-City Composites, 17 of the 20 metro areas also saw improvement in their annual returns compared to those of April. Looking at the monthly data, 13 of the 20 metro areas reported positive returns; and the 10-City and 20-City Composites reported positive returns for the first time since the summer of 2006. To put it in perspective, these are the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months. This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing”.
“While many indicators are showing signs of life in the U.S. housing market, we should remember that on a year-over-year basis home prices are still down about 17% on average across all metro areas, so we likely do have a way to go before we see sustained home price appreciation.” Mr. Blitzer added.”
Portland Oregon Real Estate Market Activity – June 2009
June 2009 real estate market results in Portland show slow, gradual increases in sales volume, but continue to register flat average and median values.
An additional ~350 homes sold when compared to May 2009 and came within 100 homes of June 2008’s mark. The higher rate of sales, plus a lower-than-normal batch of new listings number set the absorption rate at 8.2 months of available inventory, reported to be the lowest since August 2007–the historical peak month of Portland’s market activity.
For the third month in a row, the median sale price came in at ~$250,000. Average sales prices are down 14% compared to June 2008, and the median is down 13.5%. From the peak of August 2007, median home values are down 17.3%.
North and Northeast Portland prove to be the hot spots for sales activity, with listings averaging less than 100 days average time on market. By contrast, the overall Portland area is averaging 147 days, or nearly five months, for sold properties.
Market Summary
|
June 2009
|
Prev. Month May 2009
|
Last Year June 2008
|
|
| Median Sale Price | $249,900 | $250,000 | $289,000 |
| Average Sale Price | $299,800 | $291,400 | $348,800 |
| Closed Sales | 1,776 | 1,427 | 1,887 |
| Pending Sales | 2,167 | 1,967 | 1,996 |
| New Listings | 4,257 | 3,879 | 5,213 |
| Active Listings | 14,491 | 14,493 | 17,788 |
| Total Market Time * | 147 days | 147 days | n/a |
| Inventory (in months) | 8.2 | 11.0 | 9.5 |
Below is activity by market area. Please note that the median and average sale prices are year-to-date, and the appreciation numbers are a 12-month average compared to the previous 12-month average. Total market time is the number of days between the date it went on the market and when it received an acceptable offer.
Market Report by Area
| Area | YTD Avg. Sale Price | YTD Median Sale Price | 12-Mo. Appreciation | Total Mkt Time* |
| Lake Oswego / West Linn | $468,700 | $390,000 | -13.0% | 230 |
| West Portland & Downtown | $433,700 | $355,000 | -5.4% | 178 |
| NW Washington County | $373,800 | $344,000 | -5.8% | 194 |
| Tigard / Tualatin / Sherwood / Wilsonville | $326,000 | $295,000 | -8.8% | 173 |
| Northeast Portland | $295,500 | $258,500 | -7.3% | 98 |
| Oregon City / Canby | $291,100 | $249,000 | -12.0% | 157 |
| Milwaukie / Clackamas | $290,100 | $260,000 | -8.5% | 143 |
| Hillsboro / Forest Grove | $251,300 | $230,000 | -10.5% | 166 |
| Beaverton / Aloha | $246,900 | $229,300 | -8.6% | 116 |
| Southeast Portland | $246,400 | $219,900 | -8.5% | 113 |
| North Portland | $233,900 | $230,000 | -8.1% | 93 |
| Yamhill County | $232,800 | $213,000 | -12.2% | 179 |
| Gresham / Troutdale | $225,400 | $214,800 | -13.1% | 140 |
| Columbia County | $192,500 | $184,900 | -13.9% | 180 |
Data courtesy of RMLS Market Action Report, July 2009.
