Portland’s February numbers turned out better than both years prior.  Plus the number of new property listings was down from 2010.  Sales have been consistent overall running around 1600/mo for the Portland metro area.  This is good news for our housing market.  The amount of inventory overall is shrinking slightly and the rate at which prices are dropping is tapering off.  There was a 10.5% drop in prices when comparing February 2010 to February 2011 but figures only average 3% for the past 12 month period.

What’s the overall feeling of Portland real estate?  It’s stabilizing but has some distance to go before appreciation happens overall.  Buyers confident with their jobs are making moves that’ll pay off over time.  Big question is what’s going to happen as inflation kicks in and interest rates are no longer in the 4’s.  Hard to say for certain.  What drives home sales in Beaverton, Portland, Lake Oswego, Tigard and Hillsboro is mainly consumer confidence.  I doubt we’ll see much drastic change in prices or interest rates through the summer. 

Banks are still holding onto inventory and foreclosures are incredibly common so we’ll continue to see them in the MLS.  Houses for sale in Portland are led in price by foreclosures and short sales, nothing new here.  What is new is the amount of Realtors that are short sale certified and working with banks that are getting progressively better at dealing with offers, albeit, they’ve got a heck of a long way to go (banks).  80% of offers I write on short sales end up never closing.  Not saying to buyers that chasing them is not worth the effort but, rather, don’t get too emotionally attached to the property…

It’s a great time to purchase right now.  Prices are back to 2003 or earlier levels and interest rates are phenomenally low.  Investors should be paying close attention as cash flow numbers have never been better, at least in the 15 years I’ve been watching Portland real estate activity.  Rents are rising. 

Bottom line is that buyers can probably dilly dally through the spring but sellers are not gaining by holding off on the sale.  Hit the market with strong (not high) prices and you’ll net more overall than chasing prices downward.

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

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Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

• Portland homes close to market bottom (again)
• South Waterfront condos for sale priced better than ever
• Investment properties in Portland ripe for the picking

Went to hear the experts predict the future last week.  Great seminar and softened concerns for a continued rocky slide in home prices.  Bottom of the market is here but housing prices haven’t necessarily realized such just yet.  Banks are holding more inventory to minimize investor loss.  We know inventory is out there but banks aren’t dumping homes all at once.  Makes for a less dynamic price change… probably a good thing for sellers anyway.

Interest rates jumped up a bit this week to around 4.375% for a 30 yr fixed.  Still awesome.  Foreclosures in Portland, Beaverton, and Hillsboro are now priced incredibly well, offsetting costs of repair often required.  Sellers are having a tough time swallowing the fact that these sales are occurring down at points near 2000 levels.  We’ll be slogging along the bottom here until employment picks up.

Portland condos for sale have seen some of the harshest hits to prices.  The Portland South Waterfront location still has inventory available even after amazing auction prices and publicity.  Brokers produce a frenzy of interest with loss leader inventory pricing advertised.  Home buyers can snatch these up significantly under what the existing owners paid, even those who purchased earlier this year.

Investment properties in Portland have presented opportunities far beyond anything this writer has seen in his professional career.  Rents are up, vacancy down, prices down.  What could be better?!  Loan criteria, that’s what.  Try purchasing investment homes and having mortgages on 4 or more places.  25 – 30% down payments will be required.  This limits the competition a bit.  Investors often compete for the super well-priced homes.  Numbers are looking great for the long term purchaser, primary or investment!  Go buy a house and you won’t regret this 5 years from now!

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon? We can help. Click here.

Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

• Listed home inventory took a slight bump up to 11 month’s supply, balanced market is 6
• Sale volume decreased over Augest by 25%, slight increase in listings
• Foreclosures are easy to find and continue to be heavy competition for sellers

Portland real estate continues to experience sliding prices.  Fantastic news for home buyers looking to score with 2004 prices in 2010.  Couple that with pheonominal financing rates and you’ve got a recipe for success long term.  FHA rates are still incredible at 4% and give first-time buyers their best option for low down payment.

Beaverton and Hillsboro real estate have seen slower sales rates now that school has started.  Projections are for prices to edge down slightly further by end of 2010, possibly another percent or two.  At the moment we’re looking at a 11 month supply of homes for sale.

Good news for landlords as rental prices are definitely on the rise.  It’s possible to purchase investment property in Portland and have it cash flow right out of the gate.  Unheard of in recent years.  Renters are having to scramble a bit to get the good homes.  Investors that keep rates slightly below competition will experience significantly less than a default 5% vacancy.

A recent investment property in Hillsboro turned over with a 9.2% cap rate.  Cash on cash return was over 10%, calculated with zero appreciation.  Wow!  Now is the time to get into investment housing around Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego and other surrounding areas.

Sellers will continue to be frustrated with market performance and are best advised to incorporate staging and décor enhancing options to make that listing jump from the competition.  Realtors represent the market, not seller’s relationship with their equity.  Tough pill to swallow for sellers but the market will improve over time. 

Houses for sale in Portland are selling under the cost of construction.  This market will recover eventually and those whose purchase in 2010 will see a good appreciation over average home ownership time period.  Home ownership pans out on average when people stay in the house more than 4 years.

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon? We can help. Click here.

Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

• Listed home inventory took a jump up to 10.8 month’s supply, balanced market is 6
• Sale volume decreased over June by 29%, slight increase in listings
• Foreclosures are easy to find and continue to be heavy competition for sellers

Overall home sales around Portland this summer are not as hot as you’d expect.  Typically we’d see steady volumes throughout the summer but this year May was the big seller and it’s been tapering off ever since.  Short sales are popular as ever with sellers but buyers and Realtors would certainly prefer not to deal with them at all.  Price has to be very aggressive in order to entice buyers to stick it out. 

Can tell you from experience that 90+% of short sale offers I write up do not make it to closing.  Buyers get frustrated with lack of seller’s bank response, seller files bankruptcy, seller’s bank forecloses in the middle of the deal, list goes on…

On a positive note, first-time buyer market is absolutely amazing at the moment!  Have you looked at FHA rates these days?  4.25%  Couple that with a foreclosure and you’ve got a recipe for long-term success.  It’s very close to the point where renters should wonder why they’re renting.  Mortgage payments are close to rent and long term owners will prosper.

Overall projection is for a continuation of a good buyer market.  Sellers, price aggressively.  It’ll save money in the long run!

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon? We can help. Click here.

Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

• Available inventory is at 7.3 month’s supply, pretty average
• Sales have slowed this month, another 2% drop anticipated before end of summer
• Bank foreclosures still lead the “good deal” market and will be through 2010

Closed sales were up through April significantly reducing the amount of homes for sale around Portland. Our Lake Oswego office in particular saw about the same number of sales this year as last. With about 70 agents in the office it’s a good gauge of what’s happening overall in Portland.

Website traffic remains constant to this site but the number of inquiries generated has dropped which tends to be a forecast of slowdown in sales. This same thing happened in November 2009… Wonder if it’s a pattern but too early to tell just yet.

Lockbox activity according to RMLS has dropped by comparison to last year and over the last 2 months. A reflection of no more first-time buyers going for the tax credit? Not necessarily. The number of buyers pulled into the marketplace because of this tax incentive was not as great as everyone believed. The $6500 credit for current owners to move did nothing as far as I could see. People were either purchasing or not, $6500 didn’t matter to them.

Money is still cheap with interest rates hovering around 5% and FHA remains quite attractive, more so than ever actually. 2010 will continue to be a great year overall for real estate investment.

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon? We can help. Click here.

Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

• Available inventory is at 12.9 month’s supply, well above average
• Prices have stabilized on entry level pricing for regular resale houses
• Bank foreclosures still lead the “good deal” market and will be through spring

It was mentioned back in December than Portland’s housing market had hit bottom, now numbers are beginning to reflect than.  Home buyers willing to make the first-time buyer move will see great return on investment given a few years.  While Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and surrounding area homes for sale have seen entry level pricing firm up, luxury home sales are still hurting.  Prices around $2ook are in demand as buyers scrimp competitively to get the good deals.  Want to sell?  Price it right.  Buyers are there.

Luxury homes in Lake Oswego, West Linn and other locations where prices lead overall stats are still feeling the pinch.  Market times for these properties are around 153 days on average.  With economic improvement homes for sale in the $500k+ category will pick up.  Summer’s coming and so are the movers.  Expect increased sale volume but also increased home listings.  New construction will not play a big part in 2010.  Inventory needs to be bought up.  Now is the time for purchasing!

Multi-family sales around the Portland metro area also finally seening some activity.  2009 was not the year to unload property for financial gain, that’s for sure.  Sales were very stagnant.  In the last month or two plex sales have began to show signs of improvement.  Investors are gaining confidence in real estate again and rents have stabilized.  Portland’s rent rates followed real estate sales as tenants buckled down and did more conservative moves to save money.  Vacancies are back around 6% again now.  Don’t try and gain top rental dollar for an investment unit, vacancy is not worth the lost income!

Go buy real estate in Portland, that’s the bottom line.  Does anyone honestly think this is a bad time to purchase?  Look at prices and interest rates.  You tell me…

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home in anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Exclusive Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon? We can help. Click here.

Portland area home buyers may have heard the announcement last week regarding FHA mortgage changes.  Why pay attention to these details since it only usually affects first-time buyers?  Well, changes to entry level financing affect all Portland real estate in reality.  Also, FHA loans are by far the most popular right now and are not used by only first time buyers.  Home purchasers take advantage of the low down payment option of 3.5% and that’s the attraction. 

Financing options during boom years of 2005 and 2006 made use of loser lending guidelines like the ever popular 80/20 loans which eliminated mortgage insurance.  Those days are in the rear view mirror.  Mortgage insurance is pretty much a requirment today for anyone putting less than 20% down.  Although no buyer ever wants to pay these extra fees they are a necessary evil and insure lenders against default.  Portland’s entry level market is sustained by first-time buyers coming in with minimum down.  If we went back to yesteryear requirements of 20% down minimum the market would be crippled. 

New FHA loan guidelines:

• Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) increase from 1.75% to 2.25% of loan amount
• FICO minimum (credit score) 580 to qualify for 3.5% down payment
• Seller credit to buyer’s closing costs down from 6% to 3% of purchase price
• Mortgage Insurance Premium payment shifted some cost from up-front MIP to annual MIP

What does this mean for the Portland real estate?  Since first time home buyers drive the entire housing model, without these there are minimal upper end sales.  Move-up buyers are critical to the cycle.  Looser lending guidelines generate more buyers, tight guidelines eliminate qualified buyers.  Changes mentioned above are tighter and will have some affect on Portland house sales. 

Most area home buyers come in with only 3.5% total cash (the down payment) for their first home.  Statistically that’s just reality.  Sellers often are requested in the offer to pay buyer’s closing costs (loan costs) which keeps cash out of pocket to a minimum.  Figure $200,000 houses for sale in Portland will cost buyers closer to 4% of purchase price, or $8000.  With new seller contribution limits going from 6 down to 3 percent this leaves buyers coming up with the difference.  More money out of pocket is now required to get into a house, potentially.

Tightening restrictions cautiously and slowly is key to not rocking the already fragile housing market.  My guess is that overall we’ll see minimal affect on Portland real estate in general and it’d take a micro-economic guru to place figures on such changes.  Yes, home buyers may have to come up with slightly more money but we’re only talking another thousand or two and if cash is really that tight buyers may want to build up a bit more reserve before purchasing anyway.  No one wants to be house rich and cash poor, right?  Something to consider…

Data: June 8, 2009

Source: RMLS Area Report Metro Portland & Adjacent Regions

Dave’s Commentary on the Portland Real Estate Market:

RMLS numbers reflect a reduction in Portland’s housing inventory. We’re down to an 11 month supply for April’s final figures. This is a good sign that the market is starting to improve. Typically the amount of homes for sale rises in spring as do the number of closed sales. A reduction in overall inventory means that buyers are purchasing at a faster rate than homes are being listed for sale.

Working with buyers provides me an opportunity to interact with listing agents when out showing homes. I always ask other agents what their offices are seeing and what that person’s take on the market is. Lately it’s all been the same. Business is up!

Comments vary across the range of course but the majority of agents I’ve spoken with are raving about the amount of buyers they’re currently working with. While May’s inventory numbers are not out yet it’s exciting to anticipate. My guess is that it’ll be down even more, showing more market improvement.

RMLS data shows dwindling appreciation figures so keep in mind that these are a reflection of activity 3 -6 month’s ago. Forecasts are still fairly abundant that late 3rd quarter/early 4th will show we’ve reached a plateau. By the time the media starts reporting on such buyers will start seeing sellers being less desperate.

Dave’s prediction; We’re getting very close to bottoming out or may have already done so. Buyers closing in 2009 will reap huge benefits 5 years from now. Fence sitters need to make their move.

Call us and find out more about the Portland real estate market. We have specific strategies to guide both buyers and sellers. Find YOUR HOME WORTH now.

To search for your home anywhere in the Metro Portland area, use our FREE Portland Home Search tool. For more information about living in Portland and finding your dream home, call Dave at (503) 789-7633, Toll Free (877) 629-5825 or email.

Learn about our Exclusive VIP Portland Buyer Services. Contact Dave now. Make informed decisions; make smart choices. Call Dave now at (503) 789-7633 or Toll Free (877) 629-5825 ext. 7.

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