Portland real estate market conditions November 2010

A quick post of the November 2010 Portland real estate statistics before the December figures come out.

The November figures continue a downward trend but only by 1% compared to the previous month. Does this mean the downward slide is slowing??

To compare November with the previous month check my previous market conditions blog.

Comparing November 2010 with November 2009, let’s remember that first time home buyers didn’t know the tax credit deadline of November 30, 2009 would be extended into 2010. Because of this many buyers who normally would have bought in a later month timed their purchases to close in November. This inflated Nov. 2009 figures.

Now back to the November 2010/November 20o9 comparison. Closed sales were down 28.7%. (See the paragraph above.) Pending sales were up 7.4% and new listings fell about 1%.

November 2010 compared with October 2010: all the numbers were down. Closed sales fell 1%, pending sales were down 12.6% and new listings were down a whopping 20.7%. These are raw figures, not seasonally adjusted ones. New listings always decrease around the holidays as new sellers prefer to wait for the beginning of the new year to market their homes.

At the current rate of sales, the Portland real estate market has 10.2 months of inventory. See the chart and explanation below.

Interest rates for buying a home in Portland have gone up a little but are still below 5% for the majority of buyers. Economists expect mortgage rates to slowly increase during 2011. Better lock in your 30 year rate before your buying power erodes.

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.