Portland Oregon Real Estate Market Update for March 2025
Recap of the last few weeks:
Spring is here!! The birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the real estate market is heating up.
March was slightly slower than expected, especially with how busy February was, but all signs are pointing towards a busy April.
Here’s what this means if you are a home buyer:
For home buyers, it is good to note that in a lot of price points, we are not seeing as many new homes to market as some would hope.
But we should see that change as we head further into the Spring, when historically we always see a pick up in new listings.
It is also a very mixed market for home buyers right now. More and more homes are seeing multiple offer situations, but there are also a good deal of homes sitting, meaning there are still opportunities to negotiate for things such as seller-paid interest rate buydowns, price reductions, etc..
For the homes that are likely to get multiple offers, it is critical that we pay attention to the data. I just sent clients information on a home that we saw earlier in March that just sold. The home ended up selling for $70,000 over the asking price. And this was a cute but fairly normal property. Luckily, the sold price was still within their budget but this information will be helpful when we go to write offers on other properties.
Plus, if the home did end up selling outside of their budget, then we would have known we needed to switch tactics and adjust expectations.
For those interested in new build homes, it is good to note that the new administration's Tariff policies have been put in place. This means we could see a jump in price on new build properties as the majority of building materials, especially lumber that comes predominantly from Canada, becomes a lot more expensive. So it could be a good idea to jump on a home purchase sooner rather than later before those changes set in.
Okay, now let's discuss what you home sellers can expect:
For home sellers, there is a lot of opportunity in today’s market. As noted there are a lot of motivated buyers out in the market right now not able to find their home, so the motivation for your property will likely be high.
As always, I like to note that it is still important to prep your home properly and do all the right marketing, that way we can have your home be one of the ones that gets multiple offers in one weekend, versus the one that sits and buyers get more comfortable negotiating on.
Timing is also going to be important as we head into the Spring and Summer, as there are a good number of holidays and four-day weekends which can slow down buyer activity.
