Portland Oregon Real Estate Market Update - March 2023

Home buyers are officially back! 

The average home buyer is no longer timid due to interest rates and are coming back to the market in droves. 

If you ask most realtors they will tell you that they have gotten A LOT busier in the last few weeks. 

Buyers who paused their search a year ago are calling again and new perspective buyers are contacting us like we haven’t seen in months. 

Plus, we are hearing from other real estate professionals, most notably home stagers and listing photographers, that they are extremely busy as well. Which is a great sign that there will be a lot more listings coming on the market in the coming weeks. 

Great news for homebuyers! 

Home sellers, you should take note of this as well. This means that if you are considering selling your home this Spring, your competition is already preparing. 

Let’s talk about the numbers. 

Inventory of homes took a surprising dive in Feburary from 2.7 months to 1.9 months. This shows that buyer demand is up and sellers are currently slow to respond. 

New listings saw a slight decrease of 9% with 1,764 homes hitting the market. 

Pending sales also saw a small decrease of 3% with 1,703 homes going under contract. 

Closed homes saw an increase of about 30% with 1,434 homes going to new home owners. 

Average sales price stayed fairly stable with the average price being $609,300. A decrease of $100 from the month prior. 

As predicted this market is highly nuanced. Every area, price point, style of home is performing differently. 

It is ever important that while making your plans to buy or sell a home, that you chat with us as early as possible. 

Just last week I had two sets of buyers write offers on homes, in the same price point but different areas of town, with wildly varying results. 

One, I am sitting at the inspection for as I write this, as they were the only offer, the other home got 13 offers and we were back out looking at houses last night. (Those buyers do have an offer out on another home so wish us luck)! 

For home buyers, your success in this market will come down heavily to your preparation, willingness to be flexible and timing. 

While rates are high currently, buyers are finding some cool opportunities. In my last three buyer transactions we have negotiated a buy down credit paid by the seller, which will give the buyers a lower rate (aka lower monthly payment for the first two years) on a home they may have not had the opportunity to buy in a more competitive market. 

If you are considering a home purchase, keep in mind, that while lowering rates do seem to be on the horizon, when rates go down it should bring in a lot more home buyers, which means higher competition and therefor higher prices. 

If you want to talk about your options and strategize I am here for you. 

For home sellers, good news buyers will be vying for your home again! Many people have already re-entered the market and if rates do go down, your home should be in high demand. 

Though, one note, it is still ever important that you prep your home properly. Buyers are still paying a hefty penny for homes at the moment so they are way more particular and easily scared off than say a year ago. 

But don’t fret, one of my favorite things to do is to work with sellers to come up with a game plan to prep their home for sale. Reach out if you want to talk about your options. 

This Spring Real Estate Market should be a wild one, I am excited to share our insights with you in the coming months. If any questions come up, please feel free to contact me HERE.