Portland, Oregon Real Estate Market Update - February 2022

What we discuss:

- Why a balanced Portland Oregon real estate market could be good for both home buyers AND home sellers

- How rising interest rates will affect market pricing - If the decrease in home sales last month was a symptom of the slower holiday activity or a greater market trend

- And so much more

A small win for home buyers... Inventory of homes went up!!

Just from 0.6 months to 0.8 months. Still, feels like a small win maybe?

We also did see new listings increase by almost half! By 44% to be exact when looking year to year.

So this goes to show that while there is still a massive demand for homes, pending sales increased by 17% (with 2,287 homes going under contract), it is also true that there are a lot more homes available than in previous months.

Just due to that demand you have to be extremely strategic and realistic when searching for properties and while writing offers.

If you are looking to buy a home, the best way to be successful is to be super realistic about which homes are actually in your budget and give yourself room in your budget to offer up if things get competitive (especially if you don't have a ton of cash to put towards a transaction).

For future home sellers, as you can see above, demand for your home has not changed! Though we did see a decrease in home sales, down 28%, with just 2,582 homes going to new homeowners.

But in my opinion, that is more related to the decrease in new homes listed and lower activity in December because of the holidays rather than a greater market trend.

If you are thinking of selling, the best time to sell was last spring, but the second-best time is now.

While you honestly should be in a great spot to sell for a while here, things could shift some as the market slowly recovers.

For one, rising interest rates (the Fed said they plan to raise rates at least four times this year), will affect pricing, in that home buyers will have less buying power and may become slightly more hesitant in the prices they are willing to offer when seeing the increase in their potential monthly payment.

Additionally, homes are going to be less likely to fly off the market, no matter what condition they are in, (the average days on market has already seen a significant increase up to 38 days this month), meaning you will have to do more to prep your home for sale.

Full transparency as I alluded to at the start, if you sell now, or in 4 months, you will probably be in a really good spot, either way, it just appears that you will have the biggest advantage the sooner you sell.

For most sellers, the hesitancy to sell is around where they are going to move next. If this is the case for you I would be happy to chat. There are so many creative options that will help ease the process for you.

Whether you are planning to buy a home, sell one, or both, we are here to help! Contact us HERE with any questions or to discuss your 2022 real estate moves.