Portland
home market cools
Real estate - Condo and house prices are up over last
year, but it's taking longer for properties to sell
Thursday, April 19, 2007
JONATHAN BRINCKMAN
The Oregonian
Kerstin Erickson bought her condominium in The Vaux, a new luxury building in Northwest Portland, in November 2005 for $345,000. Two months ago, she put it on the market for $364,900.
But buyers have been slow to materialize. On Wednesday, Erickson lowered the asking price for the one-bedroom unit for a third time, dropping it from $354,000 to $344,900.
"I want to get rid of it as soon as possible," she said. "I'm very motivated to sell it."
Other home and condo sellers in Portland area might increasingly share Erickson's frustration, based on March statistics released Wednesday by the Regional Multiple Listing Service. The average time it took for a home to sell in the metro area increased by 44 percent over the past year, from 45 days in March 2006 to 65 days last month.
The good news is that sales prices for homes and condominiums in the Portland market continue to rise -- unlike in many other parts of the country. RMLS reports that the average sales price of a house that sold last month is 9.4 percent higher than during the same month a year ago, and the average price of a condominium is up 4 percent.
The bad news is that it's taking longer to unload properties.
Mary Ann McDowell, a real estate agent specializing in urban condos, figures the average time to sell a condominium in the downtown/Pearl District/westside area is up from 43 days the first three months of 2006 to 87 days the first three months of this year.
"It takes a lot longer to sell than when we had a really hot market," McDowell said. "For many years, Realtors thought 60 days was a safe guideline. Right now, we're above and beyond that."
Still, McDowell said that with prices holding their ground here, she doesn't mind the fact that the market has cooled. "It gives buyers more time to think and evaluate," she said.
Tim Duy, an economics professor at the University of Oregon, said that while housing sales are slower in the Portland market than they were a year ago, they aren't "disastrously slower" such as southern California.
One reason the Portland market is doing relatively well, he said, is that it never dramatically overheated. "Sales are off, but have held up very well compared to elsewhere," he said.
Jonathan Brinckman: 503-221-8190; jbrinckman@news.oregonian.com
©2007 The Oregonian