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Portland Housing Market Update

Portland Housing Market Update: 2016, Quarter 3

If you’ve either bought or sold a home in the last year, you know that the housing scene in Portland is still changing fast. Three things show just how much buying and selling has changed in the third quarter of 2016: average days on the market, number of homes sold, and average sales price. We’ll take a look at each of these things, and we’ll take an especially close look at North Portland.

Days on the Market

One of the biggest indicators of a seller’s market—or a market where there’s more demand than supply—is how much time homes actually spend listed on the market. The more demand outstrips supply, the faster homes sell.

In some areas of the region, homes are selling even faster than they did at the end of quarter 2, which is saying something, since they were already selling lightning-fast. There are many areas in which homes don’t last anywhere close to a full month on the market. So if you see a home you like, you better be making an offer fast. 

In fact, in the Lafayette area in Southeast Portland, homes stay on the market for an incredibly low average of 10 days. Here’s a look at North Portland’s hottest neighborhoods:

Arbor Lodge/Kenton 26 days

Piedmont/Concordia 24 days

St Johns 17 days

Portland Housing Market Update

Number of Homes Sold

When people can’t find homes they can afford in the most popular (which usually means most expensive) neighborhoods, they start to turn to other neighborhoods to find something more affordable. This is something that’s certainly been happening in Portland for a while.

The top area (Forest Heights/Bethany/Cedar Mill) logged 381 sales, compared to 354 just the previous quarter. And the top five areas had 3.4% more sales than they had in the second quarter. In this respect, there’s no slowing down.

Here’s a look at North Portland’s hottest (which just so happen to be the same three that are in the days on the market section).

Piedmont/Concordia 154

St Johns 165

Arbor Lodge/Kenton 181

Portland Housing Market Update

Price

Sales Price

Sales prices have been rising steadily around Portland for some time (we’ve had double-digit rises over the past two years; home values have increased about 19.2% in 2016 according to Zillow).

Average sale prices slipped a bit from September to August. This may be a sign that some of the fall’s normal cooling off period is happening a bit, which would be welcome relief for potential buyers.

The average regional sale price was $392,200 in August, just down from $400,100 in September. The top area was Lake Oswego at $901,329. Here’s a look the one North Portland neighborhood on the list of the 25 hottest neighborhoods.

Piedmont/Concordia $478,308

Portland Housing Market Update

Price Changes

Check out this heat map, which covers the entire city. You can see that there have been dramatic price changes in parts of the city, even in the last year. The lists below the map also have a lot of cool demographic information, including population, median age, and median household income. You can also find lifestyle information, like info on parks and commutes.

Here’s a closer look at North Portland’s neighborhoods. The first number is the 1-year median price change, and the second number is the 5-year median price change.

  • Arbor Lodge: 13.9%, 60.4%
  • Piedmont: 14.7%, 74.1%
  • Kenton: 13.7%, 53.6%
  • Portsmouth: 10%, 53.6%
  • University Park: 15.8%, 31.4%
  • St Johns: 16.7%, 72.1%
  • Overlook: 6.5%, 24.8%
  • East Columbia: 42.1%, 58.8%
  • Hayden Island: 39.%, 1.1%
  • Bridgeton: -1.2%, 119.3%

What the Future Holds

Zillow predicts that double-digit home value increases are unlikely in 2017, although there is almost certainly still going to be growth. The local economy and the job market are doing well, which will further encourage population growth in the area, continuing this housing boom.

If there’s any way we can help you, give us a call at (503) 283-1900! Whether it’s buying or selling your North Portland home, nobody knows North Portland like we do—even when the market’s changing fast.

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