Is The Portland Real Estate Market Cooling Off?

I have had many people ask me, “How is the real estate market right now?”

My answer is dependent on which side of the market you are interested in. For Buyers, the market is very competitive, especially in the $100,000- $400,000 price range. For Sellers, the market data shows that it is a great time to sell your property. Currently, the Portland real estate market inventory number is 2.2, which means if there were no more houses listed for sale, it would take 2.2 months for all of them to sell. This means the market is in favor of sellers. An inventory number of 6 is considered to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Anything over 6 is considered to be a “buyers market” and anything under 6 is considered to be a “sellers market.”

If you are wanting to buy or sell a house, it is important to work with a REALTOR that knows how to navigate the current market.

What do these numbers mean for you?

BUYERS

On the buyer side, there are many ways to structure an offer using enticing terms and conditions that will help increase your chances of the offer being accepted. There is a lot of competition amongst buyers in the Portland Metropolitan Area real estate market right now. Offering a higher purchase price and asking for the seller to credit the closings costs is one strategy because it allows you to offer a higher price, but does not force you to bring more cash out of your pocket since the sellers will credit your closing costs. If the property you are writing an offer on is expected to have a lot of offers, submitting your best offer without asking for a seller credit is a good strategy because it takes the pressure off of the sellers to give the buyers money back. This offer strategy does force the buyers to bring more of their own cash to the close, but sets the buyers apart from their competition by not asking for a credit.

SELLERS

For sellers, understanding the offers that come in and how they are structured helps get the most money from your sale. For example just because an offer comes in over asking price does not mean it will net you the most money. If a buyer offers $10,000 over asking price, but the offer states the seller is to credit the buyer $10,000 in closing costs the seller does not net more by accepting this offer. Also on the seller side of the market, pricing your house correctly (not too high or too low) will be more likely to receive offers at or above market value. This allows the seller to make a decision on the offer to accept instead of having to take the first offer that comes in.

Consult with your local real estate agent to get more information and stay up to date with your local real estate market.

Trent J. Werner

REALTOR

(971) 235-1312

Trent@UptownPM.com