Portland real estate market conditions July 2010

Portland real estate statistics for July don’t look as good as the June numbers.

The first time home buyer tax credit deadline has definitely skewed the numbers. Many people buying a home in Portland Oregon bought in April (instead of July) to take advantage of the tax credit. It will take a few more months for us to see if the market is worsening or just reacting to the artificial influence of the tax credit.

To compare with last month check my previous market conditions blog.

On to the July numbers for Portland real estate. Compared to the same month last year, closed home sales are down 29%. Also pending sales are down 24.9%. New listings (homes for sale in Portland) are up slightly–by 3.1%.

Compared to June 2010, July closed sales also fell by 29.8%. (Remember, the tax credit original rules were to close your first time home purchase by June 30, 2010.  Until the deadline was extended, July closed sales would not receive the tax credit. Lots of people purchased their home in June rather than July.)

Now let’s look at the sale prices of homes for sale in Portland real estate. The Average sales price for July 2010 increased 2.9% over the previous July. It increased 2.5% over June 2010.

The months of inventory for Portland real estate is currently at 10.3 months. (See the chart below.) This is firmly in the buyer’s market for homes for sale in Portland. So if you are looking at homes for sale in Portland Oregon, there are lots of homes to choose from.

What does all this mean? The numbers are confusing. Closed sales and pending sales for homes for sale in Portland are down. It’s a buyer’s market, yet prices are up slightly over last month and last year. It’s hard to explain except that we are still feeling the effects of the tax credit’s artificial influence on the Portland real estate market.

Is it a buyers market or a seller’s market? See the chart below.

It’s all based on the number of months of inventory. How many months would it take to sell all the homes currently on the market if no new property came up for sale? Less than 4 months inventory is a sellers market; 4-6 months is a neutral market; and more than 6 months inventory is a buyers market. All information is courtesy of RMLS.