Market Update
Sales Price Climbs to Highest Level in a Year
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the median sales price rose 3.56% in September 2011 as compared to August 2011. September’s median price of $233,000 was the highest the median sales price has been in nearly a year.
In November 2010, the median sales price was $235,000.
Inventory Falls To Two Year Low
One reason the sales price is climbing is that there are fewer homes on the market. The number of homes for sale on the last day of September fell nearly 8% as compared to the last day of August.
Year over year, the number of homes for sale in September 2011 was down more than 33% as compared to September 2010.
The Months Supply of Inventory is now in the 5-6 month range, which is considered to be a balanced market.
Record Low Interest Rates
Freddie Mac announced that 30-year fixed mortgage rates had reached an all time low of 4.01%.
Here in the West, we recorded the lowest reported rates with 30-year rates reaching as low as 3.95%.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 141-156.
Median Sales Price Jumps Nearly 6%
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the median sales price climbed 5.85% in September 2011 as compared to August 2011. The median sales price was $190,000 in September 11, the highest its been since January 2011, when it reached $190,500.
Inventory Falls To New Two Year Low
One reason sales prices are rising is that there are fewer homes available for sale. The number of homes for sale on the last day of September fell more than 5% as compared to the last day of August. The number of homes for sale in September 2011 was down more than 27% from last year.
Record Low Interest Rates
Freddie Mac announced on September 30 that 30-year fixed mortgage rates had reached an all time low of 4.01%. Here in the West, we recorded the lowest reported rates with 30-year rates reaching as low as 3.95%.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 11-82.
Pending Sales Surge More Than 44%
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the number of homes with an accepted offer soared 44.49% in August 2011 as compared to last month and skyrocketed more than 80% as compared to last year.
Inventory Falls to 2-year Low
The jump in pending sales brought the months supply under contract figure down to 4.5 months in August 2011, the lowest its been in more than two years. That figure is well below half of what it was a year ago. The actual number of homes available for sale on the last day of August 2011 was also at a two year low.
Sales Increase Year Over Year
Home sales climbed more than 21% in August 2011 as compared to August 2010. Sales were down 4.47% as compared to last month. The increase in pending sales this month should lift the number of closed sales in the next two to three months.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 11-82.
Pending Sales Jump More Than 43%
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the number of homes with an accepted offer jumped more than 43% in August 2011 as compared to the same month the year before.
And, the number of under contract homes climbed more than 18% in August 2011 compared to July.
Inventory Reaches 2-Year Low
The increase in pending sales dropped the number of homes on the market to the lowest level in more than two years. And, there were 32% fewer homes for sale as compared to August 2010.
The months supply of homes in August 2011 was 5 months, less than half of what it was in August last year.
Months supply is the number of months it would take to sell the homes on the market given the current pending sales rate.
Home Sales Up Year Over Year
The number of homes sold in August 2011 was up nearly 15% compared to last year.
Sales overall were down slightly from last month.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 141-156.
Home Prices Rise More Than 2%
According to the July 2011 statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the median price of homes sold in last month climbed 2.2% as compared to June 2011. July’s increase in the median sold price is the fifth consecutive monthly increase. It is also the highest the median sold price has been since December 2010, when it was $230,000.
Pendings and Solds Both Up Year Over Year
The number of homes with an accepted offer remained steady in July as compared to June but jumped more than 33% as compared to a year ago.
Home sales slid in July as compared to June but showed a healthy increase of more than 13% when compared to July 2010.
Inventory continues to fall
In July, the months supply of inventory under contract reached its lowest level since April 2010, when it was 5.8 months. The actual number of homes for sale on the last day of the month of July was the lowest in more than two years.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 141-156.
Home Prices Edge Upward
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the median sales price of homes sold in July 2011 edged up more than 1/2 a percent as compared to last month. Last month’s figure of $180,000 was a two year low.
Pendings and Solds Climb Year Over Year
The number of homes with an accepted offer jumped more than 36% in July 2011 as compared to July 2010. Under contract homes were down slightly from June 2011.
The number of closed sales climbed more than 33% in July 2011 as compared to July 2010.
Homes are selling faster
The average days on market of sold homes dropped nearly two weeks in July 2011 as compared to June. Homes were on the market nearly three weeks less in July 2011 than in July 2010.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 11-82.
Home Sales Increase More Than 6%
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the number of homes sold in June 2011 rose more than 6% as compared to May 2011. The 503 homes sold in June 2011 was the highest number of home sales since June of 2010, when the Homebuyer Tax credit was influencing the market.
June’s increase in home sales was the fourth consecutive monthly climb in the number of homes sold.
Pending Sales also climb nearly 6%
The number of homes with an accepted offer also rose in June 2011, climbing nearly 6% as compared to May 2011 and up more than 55% as compared to June last year.
Inventory drops
The rise in under contract homes brought the inventory level down to 6.4 months, its lowest level in more than a year.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 11-82.
Portland Home Prices, Sales Continue to Rise
According to the June 2011 statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the average median sales price in the Portland area rose for the fourth consecutive month.
Compared to May 2011, the average price was up nearly 1%, inching up from $220,000 to $222,000.
Home Sales Also Edge Up
The number of homes sold in June 2011 rose by 0.06% over May 2011.
A total of 1,813 homes were sold in June 2011, the highest number since the same month last year when 2,133 homes were sold.
Last year’s numbers were driven by the Homebuyer Tax Credit, which was in effect.
Inventory continues to fall
The number of homes on the market reached another two-year low in June, falling to 5.8 months.
This marks the second consecutive month that months supply of inventory has been in the 5-6 month range, which is considered to be a balanced market.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 141-156.
S&P/Case-Shiller recently released its Home Price Indices for first quarter 2011 and the mainstream media immediately jumped on the statement that home prices were down more than 30% from their peak (emphasis added).
As is usual, the mainstream media jumped on the most sensational fact without putting it in any real context. Because prices were at an unreasonable and unsustainable high at the peak of the real estate bubble, it is only natural that prices would have to come down.
In Portland, we calculated the actual median sales price for each year beginning in 2000 against the historical rate of real estate appreciation (according to Case-Shiller’s average for 1987-2009) of 3.4%. You can see that in the chart below.
Looking at the data this way, we see that in Portland, had housing appreciated at the historical average, the median sales price would now be $244,640. It was $215,000 in March 2011. Although that is more than 25% down from the peak of $290,000 in 2007, it is just 12.12% below where the median sales price would have likely been had we not saw the unsustainable growth in the period between 2005 and 2007. Indeed, the median sales price is now at a level just above 2004 home prices when the market began its unusual growth.
Yes, those buyers who bought or refinanced in 2005-2007 are facing the drops in equity talked about in the Case-Shiller report but that is not true for all homeowners and it does not mean that people who buy in today’s market are looking at those types of drops in the future. Indeed homes are at their highest level of affordability in more than 20 years.
According to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) data released May 25, 2011, 74.6 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400.
In Portland, the median family income is actually a little higher than the national median – $64,800 for a family of 3 and $72,000 for a family of four (see Portland Housing Bureau Median Family Income data). Based on the old rule of thumb that you can afford a home that is 3 times your annual income, we would expect housing prices to stabilize somewhere between $194, 400 and $216,000 in 2011.
The most recent statistics from the Portland MLS show that for the period January to May 2011, the median sales price has actually risen to $218,000.
Buyers should not let national media reports put them off their goal of home ownership. Talk to a REALTOR about your specific needs and situation and the opportunities available to you in today’s housing market.
Pending Sales Climb Nearly 7%
According to statistics from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS), the number of homes with an accepted offer rose 6.85% in May 2011 as compared to April 2011. The 577 pending sales in May 2011 was the highest that figure has been since April 2010, when it was 724.
In April 2010, homebuyers had the incentive of the April 30th deadline to have a home under contract to qualify for the Homebuyer Tax credit.
Inventory falls to lowest level in a year
The rise in pending home sales brought the months supply of inventory under contract number down to 6.4 months in May 2011, the lowest its been since April 2010, when it was 6.1 months.
The actual number of homes for sale on the last day of the month (3,719) is the lowest that figure has been in two years.
(click on the table above to see it full size)
This report is developed monthly by RE/MAX equity group and is based on information from The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) for the period stated above. Residential properties only in RMLS areas 11-82.
