Portland real estate market conditions September 2010

September’s numbers for the Portland real estate market really don’t show improvement. In fact it could be called our incredibly shrinking market.

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

Looking at September 2010 compared with September 2009, closed sales are down by 22.3%, pending sales decreased 30.7%. New listings are down 1.4%. The average sales price is down 3.5% and median sold price is down just a hair—0.6%

Comparing September 2010 with August 2010, closed sales are higher by 1.3%, but pending sales are down 6.2% and new listings decreased 7.3%. The average sales price compared with August is down 6.4% and the median sales price is down 4%

At the current rate of sale activity, the existing inventory would last 10.5 months. See the chart below.

I’m late getting these figures into my blog and October numbers should be out in the next few days. I’m hoping to see improving numbers. But I won’t be surprised if the market stays in the doldrums until the beginning of next year. It’s dark. It’s rainy. And the Portland real estate market frequently slackens off for the holidays.

I do think we have pent up demand that will bring the market (slowly) back once it is unleashed.

People still dream of owning their first home. Others want to move up to a bigger home or downsize to something more manageable. Prices are low, interest rates haven’t been this low since the 1950’s. Once buyers feel the prices are somewhat stabilized, demand will grow again. I do believe it.

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.