September home prices chilled out a bit – but not much
October 13, Jon Bell, Portland Business Journal
To paraphrase the Regional Multiple Listing Service: Some clouds blew into the real estate market in September, casting shadows over sale prices, new listings and pending and closed sales.
In its latest Market Action Report, RMLS noted that, while the 3,673 new listings in September was a jump of more than 7 percent over the same month last year, they were down 12.6 percent from August. Pending sales were also down nearly 4 percent from last September and more than 14 percent from August.
Price-wise, the average sale price hit $392,600 in September, up 11.4 percent over September 2015 but down from $400,100 in August. And on the inventory front, the metro region supply was up slightly to two months, while the total market time increased by a day to 35 days.
“The reality is that Portland continues to have a very strong and hot market,” said Sebastian Debrun, managing broker of John L. Scott Portland West Hills. “Demand continues to outpace supply as more and more people are moving to this fabulous area of the country.”
That said, November usually kicks off a dry season for new listings, which can drop by 50 percent at the beginning of the month and remain low through February.
