Market Statistics: September 2020

Every month RMLS publishes statistics on the Portland Metro real estate market. Here's our take on last month's numbers:

As predicted, September was another busy month in the Portland Real Estate market. Prices rose for the 5th month in a row with the Median Home Price hitting $451,000 – over 11% than last month and 0.4% higher than September of last year. This rise in prices was fueled by a combination of fewer new listings and an increase in both Pending and Closed Sales. This pushed inventory to an all time low of 1.1 months – something we haven’t seen in the almost 23 years that RMLS has been tracking the statistic. Inventory was 60% lower than in September of 2019.

While the supply of homes remains incredibly low, the demand continues to be high thanks in part to one big incentive for homebuyers: record low interest rates. This combination means that we will continue to see prices increase until either more homes come on the market, or buyers begin to exit the market. Many buyers who are shopping in lower price ranges have already been forced out of the urban core into areas where prices are lower. One popular destination is Hillsboro/Forest Grove. The Median Home Price in this area last month was $407,300 – nearly 10% lower than the average for the greater Metro Area and 9% lower than in NE Portland, for example. And Pending Sales there have increased 24.5% so far this year compared to 2019.

Even if many buyers remove themselves from the market due to rising prices, concern about the economy, or the looming presidential election, it’s unlikely that we’ll see Home Prices subside much in the coming months due to the incredibly low inventory in the Portland Metro Area. The demand for homes will have to fall quite a bit to impact prices much and tip the balance back toward buyers.

—by Laura Bower, Think Real Estate