Portland Oregon Real Estate Market September 18, 2015

Vancouver Sees Nation’s Largest Year-Over-Year Rent Hike; Portland and Seattle Tied in Third

According to a study done by Apartment List, Vancouver, Washington, saw the nation's single largest rent hike year-over-year from July 2014 to July 2015. The study assessed the monthly listings on their website, of which there are several hundred thousand, and came up with the following percentage changes for 2 bedroom apartments: Vancouver's 2 bedroom rents jumped by 9.8% from July 2014, to July 2015, with the average 2 bedroom rental currently renting at $1050. Portland and Seattle both saw rent spikes of 8.5% (Miami came in second at 9.3%). Portland's average rent for a 2 bedroom rental is $1550 a month, which is good for the 13th highest rent in the nation among assessed cities; Seattle's $2100 a month for a 2 bedroom is the eighth highest.

Full Article: http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porch/index.ssf/2015/09/vancouver_had_nations_fastest-.html

Full Statistics: https://www.apartmentlist.com/rentonomics/july-2015-national-rental-price-monitor

These rising rents in the Portland Metro Area are forcing many buyers and renters to reconsider the calculus of "renting vs. buying" and which option is more affordable. If you'd like to have a free consultation to evaluate your buying position and whether buying may make more sense than renting, feel free to shoot me a call or email! I'd be happy to discuss it with you.

Bill – 503.890.2928 – bgrange@windermere.com 

 

Portland Oregon Real Estate Market August 21, 2015

Gardner Report – 2015, Second Quarter

 

Below is the 2015 Q2 report from Matthew Gardner, Windermere's Chief Economist. As you can see, with rising home prices and continued low market time, this is a very strong seller's market. Please contact me for a complimentary consultation if you're considering selling your home! In addition, I've had a lot of success in helping buyers navigate the current market and win multiple offer situations. If you're looking for a home, I'd love to sit down with you for a free buyer consultation as well. Thanks very much!

 

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW


The Oregon economy has regained its traditional job growth advantage relative to the nation with employment growth running about one percent higher than a typical state. With the expansion in employment—in concert with rising wages—the economy appears to be in good shape. Although not yet at full employment, the direction is very positive.

HOME SALES ACTIVITY


  • Sales activity rose by 20.9% compared to the second quarter of 2014, with 16,871 homes closing.
  • Sales rose at the fastest rate in smaller counties, with Lincoln, Klickitat, and Marion leading the way.
  • Double-digit percentage increases in closed sales were seen in all but two counties across the region.
  • Equally impressive was the fact that no county saw an annual drop in sales.
Annual Change in Home Sales

HOME PRICES


  • Average prices in the region rose by 7.2% year-over-year to $310,576.
  • When compared to second quarter of 2014, Skamania County rose to the top with price growth of 34%. This is attributable to the size of the market which allows for substantial swings in price.
  • All but five counties saw prices rise compared to the second quarter of 2014 with six showing double-digit percentage gains.
  • Prices fell in five counties, but again, these are counties where relatively few transactions take place so they are prone to wild swings.
Annual Change in Home Sale Prices

DAYS ON MARKET


  • The average days it takes to sell a home in the region dropped by 16 days when compared to the second quarter of 2014.
  • The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 103 days. 
  • There are still a few markets where the length of time it takes to sell a home did rise, but they were modest increases in smaller counties and not a cause for concern.
  • Only 13 counties saw sales take over 100 days or more to sell—down from 18 in the second quarter of 2014. In Portland, it now takes less than a month for homes to sell.
 
Average Days on Market

CONCLUSIONS


Housing Market Speedometer

The speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates, and larger economics factors.

As mentioned in last quarter’s Gardner Report, inventory constraints persist, which continues to drive prices higher. Additionally, home sales continue to rise while simultaneously the number of days on market continues to fall.

Because of all of this, I have moved the gauge a little further in favor of sellers. It would have moved even further had we not seen interest rates rise (albeit modestly) during second quarter.

ABOUT MATTHEW GARDNER


Matthew Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has over 25 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.
SE Portland, OR. Homes August 7, 2015

The Latest in Real Estate Fraud

For most people, buying a home is the largest purchase they'll make in their lifetimes. Consequently, there is a substantial amount of money flowing around during a real estate transactions, with earnest money deposits, payment for inspections, and the transferring of funds at closing. Currently, we have a lot of mechanisms and vehicles to protect the finances on all sides of the transaction: escrow provides a neutral third party to hold funds, different contingencies protect monies while buyers and sellers make decisions, and banks provide secure wiring for the funding of loans.

Unfortunately, despite the sophistication of the real estate industry, some intrepid wire fraudsters have nevertheless latched on to real estate transactions as a target for scamming buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the system is this: a hacker will slice into a real estate agent's email account and monitor the details of a particular transaction. Then, as closing approaches, the perpetrator of the fraud will send an official-looking email to the buyer in the transaction with fradulent wiring instructions, thus obtaining the funds themselves. It's also noted that the emails themselves are fairly convincing, with either legitimate-seeming sham accounts or hacked emails from legitimate accounts themselves. The language also displays less of the robotic syntax quirks that are obvious red flags in the more typical email scams.

Regardless of the refinement of this scam, however, buyers and real estate agents can take precautions. For instance, be aware of any reference to a "SWIFT wire" in the email. Staying in contact with escrow officers, lenders, and your real estate agent is also a great way to make sure nothing falls through the cracks and there is no space for a scammer to insert themselves into the transaction. I'm a firm believer in daily follow-ups and I think that's a great precautionary measure against fraud, in addition to just being good business. The full list of measures can be found in the link to the article below. Please feel free to contact me with any questions as well!

Link to Article: CLICK HERE