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March 2020 Portland Market Stats

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The statistics for March of 2020 are available, and as we look back, this gives us the best look at how the beginning of the pandemic affected our local market. Kate Brown issued stay at home orders on March 24th, so the housing market had not yet been affected by the pandemic. The quick and dirty breakdown of the numbers indicates that everyone was gearing up for the busy season. We saw a huge push of new listings, newly pending homes, and new closings. We also saw the average home price jump up and the days on market drop down. Keep on reading if you want a more in-depth look!

Portland Metro

Looking at the numbers for Portland, you can see that we were heading into a very strong market. March is always the beginning of our busy season. Many people believe June is the best month to sell a home, but here in Portland, it tends to be March or April. We saw a 25% jump in new listings in March compared to February and a 24% jump in closed sales. That shows that even though we are finally starting to get more inventory, there are plenty of buyers out there.

So far for 2020 we are at a 4.1% appreciation. This is a healthy and normal amount of appreciation. So while you may not be making a ton of money year over year, real estate remains one of the safest investments you can make. Also, a quick note about the market as I am writing this, we are in the heat of our lockdown, and while we did see real estate slow for the first 2 weeks, things seem to be picking up right where they left off. We have seen many new listings come onto the market, and everything close-in at a mid-range price is still selling quite quickly and often with multiple offers. If you are waiting for the market to tank before you jump in to buy, it isn’t going to happen.

Selling

If you are considering selling your home, now is an excellent time to get into the market. People are out looking for homes right now and I fully anticipate that when the stay at home order is lifted, we will see a huge push of new listings. More listings means more competition and less buyers for your home. We don’t have a crystal ball but the way things feel right now, it doesn’t seem like we are going to be as hurt by this as the media is tending to portray. Timing is always a personal choice, but if you are ready to move and thinking of selling, let’s come up with a game plan to ensure that you net as much money as possible. If you want an individual valuation, reach out to us and we can discuss details. You can also get an instant home value by clicking here.

Buying

If you are thinking about buying, these numbers may seem a bit intimidating to you, but know there will be many more homes coming on the market very soon. With interest rates being historically low, even if you do end up competing on a home, chances are you are still getting a great deal. You also never know when the perfect home is going to come on the market, so if you are thinking of looking, it doesn’t hurt to start now to see what is out there. You can search all the homes in the area HERE.

East Portland

Everything on the Eastside performed well last month. Days on market are down by more than a week, which means things are selling really quickly. 51 days seems like quite awhile, but if we remove the outliers, this number is much closer to 9 days. North Portland saw a huge jump in average sales price for March and is almost equal to that of Southeast Portland. With the Vancouver/Williams corridor becoming so popular, and all the new construction going up, prices have been jumping very quickly in North Portland. There are still affordable pockets, you just need to know where to look.

West Portland

Unlike last month, we saw the average sales price climb back up for West Portland. This number is back to where we were at the beginning of the year. We also saw the days on market climb a bit. It is only 1 day longer than last month, so this number is pretty arbitrary. As previously mentioned, the Westside has the majority of the luxury listings and condos, both of which simply take longer to sell. Numbers are staying pretty consistent on this side of the river, so you should be able to plan out into the future if you aren’t ready to make a move yet.

We hope this helps to breakdown the March market in the Portland area. If you have any specific questions about your neighborhood please send us a message! You can fill out the form below or reach out to us on Facebook. We are always happy to discuss how this specifically affects you and your home value!

Paint Palette

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Color is such an important part of personalizing a home. But it’s also key in making your home a space others can see themselves moving into. We know you probably have lots of extra time on your hands, so here are our 4 tips to whip your home into shape!

*Not a fan of videos? Keep scrolling for the written version!*

Today we are going to be talking with you all about the power of paint and how it can make a huge impact in the home selling process for a very small investment.  We are all stuck in our homes for now, so if you have any plans for selling in the future, why not take this extra time to spruce things up?  Or, maybe you are just bored of your house colors in which case, this will provide a nice refresh!

We want our homes to feel like us, so often times we tailor them to suit our own tastes. Things like cozy furniture, bright and textured rugs, wall art and the right light fixtures can really reflect a style and personality. Sometimes we even go a little risky and do accent walls. Things like painting our children’s bedrooms to mimic night sky. or We will add a little DIY wallpaper. While these are all AMAZING ways to customize spaces, when it comes to preparing your home for resale, these colorful wall colors can really start to restrict your buyer pool. If you’ve never tried selling a home with bright orange walls, then you probably don’t even know the power a simple color change can make. We want to do everything we can to sell your home as quickly as possible. 

The good news is that a fresh coat of paint can change everything.  Here are our top 4 tips! 

Tip 1: Your Door

 First things first, let’s consider your front door. It’s a smaller project and might offer you a little more creativity. You have probably seen black, gray and white doors, but this is actually where we want to see a pop of color.  If you have a lighter palette of colors on your home, try a rich navy blue or vibrant red.  If you have a dark color palette, like a grey or navy, try a bright color like sunny yellow or a lively teal.  You want to wow people before they even get inside. 

Tip 2: Keep it Uniform

Secondly, When it comes to interior walls, the trend here is to keep everything flowing with a neutral color. The idea is to create a blank canvas to help people envision themselves living there. You also want to think of it like flooring… We want it to be uniform throughout the home. Choose a neutral that you love.  You don’t have to carry that color through the whole home, just make sure that every room is in the same color family. You can do slightly lighter versions of the color in the bedrooms and hallway, and slightly darker version in your dining room or family room.  Exceptions to this are your smaller, tighter spaces like bathrooms without natural light. Those will benefit from whiter brighter paint that helps bounce light around and make the room appear wider and taller.

Tip 3: Keep it Neutral

Now that we know the look we’re going for, let’s talk color. The biggest trends right now are any and all whites, soft grays, and taupe. These might not seem like exciting choices, but they are all incredible popular. And that’s probably because they are so versatile and suit a variety of house styles from modern to traditional. Here you can see the colors that Sherwin Williams sells the most of, notice a trend?  If you hate the idea of painting everything white and grey, go for a greyed out version of your favorite color. Blue-greys will still look neutral but offer a bit more color and personality. 

Tip 4: Know your finishes

Lastly, another thing about paint is that not all textures are created equal. Usually when you go to Home Depot, Lowes or your favorite local home improvement store, you will be able to select a finish. Keep in mind the location of the room that you’re painting. Since kitchen’s are such a busy part of a home, go with a satin or semi-gloss finish.  Bathrooms should be in a semi-gloss or gloss, and all the other rooms should be in an eggshell finish.  

We have seen it many times, beautiful homes go on the market with crazy colors. Prospective buyers just can’t see past them.  Having a realtor that understands the current trends is more important than ever.  We can’t currently come to you, but, if you need some help picking out colors, we are happy to do a video chat and give you some tips. Just reach out to us!

February 2020 Market Stats

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Real estate by the numbers is out for the past month! The quick and dirty version of the February market is that inventory is still low keeping us in a seller’s market. Homes are appreciating by 5-7% over last year but dropped slightly compared to last month. And we are seeing many new listings as we get ready for the busy spring market. Read on below if you want details about your side of the river and the general market health.

Portland Metro February Market Numbers
Portland Metro

Looking at the numbers now just confirms what we were talking to our clients about last month. We saw more houses coming onto the market as seller’s were trying to get ahead of the spring rush. This push of listings also gave us more pending homes and therefore more sold homes. There are a lot of buyers out in the market and even though the inventory is climbing up, we are still seeing multiple offers on most close-in locations.

Many of us, myself included, expected to see more of a plateau in terms of appreciation, after the huge price jumps in 2017 and 2018. 2019 did see quite a bit of slowing, but so far this year the average sales price is up 5% over last year across the metro area. 4-6% appreciation is considered a steady and healthy market, so we should expect to see these numbers hold for at least a year or 2.

Selling

If you are considering selling your home now is an excellent time to get into the market. May-July are historically our busiest months for new listings, so if you want to take advantage of the huge buyer pool ahead of your competition, April could be the perfect month to list your home. Timing is always a personal choice, but you will likely net more money listing in the spring than early summer. If you want an individual valuation, reach out to us and we can discuss details. You can also get an instant home value by clicking here.

Buying

If you are thinking about buying, these numbers may seem a bit intimidating to you, but know there will be many more homes coming on the market very soon. With interest rates being historically low, even if you do end up competing on a home, chances are you are still getting a great deal. You also never know when the perfect home is going to come on the market, so if you are thinking of looking, it doesn’t hurt to start now to see what is out there. You can search all the homes in the area HERE.

East Portland

Overall the Eastside performed better than rest of the city in February. NE Portland saw the biggest jump in average home price, 2.5% since the beginning of the year, this is primarily due to some luxury listings closing. SE Portland continues to have the most new listings and the most closings because of its sheer size, at 247 closings, it had almost as many as NE and N Portland combined. North Portland is still one of the most affordable places to buy a home, with an average sales price of $407K you can still find cute homes in the 300K range.

East Portland February Market Numbers

West Portland

The Westside did vary a bit compared to the rest of the city, this is the only area that we saw the average days on market go up. The days on market are always quite a bit longer on this side of the river due to the condo sales. The condo market slowed substantially last year and this skews all the other numbers towards the negative. West Portland has a significantly higher average home price which also has a smaller buyer pool and therefore takes longer to sell.

West Portland February Market Numbers

We hope this helps to breakdown the February market in the Portland area. If you have any specific questions about your neighborhood please send us a message! You can fill out the form below or reach out to us on Facebook. We are always happy to discuss how this specifically affects you and your home value.

January 2020 Market Stats

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The time has come to once again look back on the market and reflect on how healthy the market has been. January of 2020 was a great month for Portland. Home prices are up 6.3% from January of last year! Despite all the recession rumors, everyone that owns a home is still making money. Interest rates are still insanely low. If you are thinking of buying, do it now before home prices jump up even more. If you want to read more about all the specifics, continue on past the graphic below!

January 2020 Real Estate Market Statistics
What these numbers mean to you

We also saw a significant jump in new listings, pendings, and sold homes. Many people entered the real estate market after the holidays which explains this big jump. While it is good to see homes coming on the market, we are still sitting around only 2.2 months of inventory. If no one else puts their home on the market, every single home will be sold in just over 2 months. As a buyer, this means there will be competition on all those ‘Pinterest perfect’ homes and you should expect multiple offers. As a seller, this means there is almost no competition and as long as you are priced appropriately, you should expect to sell quickly.

Despite this, we surprisingly saw the average days on market climb as well. If you separate this stat out by price point it paints a very different picture. Homes under $500,000 are, on average, selling in 7 days or less. Houses up to $1 million are selling in about 30 days. Homes over $1 million are selling in 60-100 days on average. If you want specifics on how long your home may take to sell, send us a message and we will happily send you some data.

Ready to make a move?

You sometimes hear us say “now is the perfect time to move” but whether you are a buyer or a seller, there are some really strong cases to be made about 2020 being the right year to do it. If you want to look at homes currently on the market you can do so here. If you want an instant evaluation of what your home is worth, you can do so here. Take advantage of the current interest rates to get yourself into a new and amazing home! You’ll be glad you did.

Does our analysis match your perception of the market? How did you feel January of 2020 went? Let us know in the comments!