By Ella Gray, October 26, 2023
By Ella Gray, October 26, 2023
Hi I’m Ella Gray, Broker with Living Room Realty, here to tell you what you need to know about the Portland market for “ Late October 2023”
Make no bones about it, Halloween is just around the corner, and we know what that means! There’s only about 40 days remaining in the home-buying season if you want to close on a home by December 31st and grim reap those sweet sweet tax write offs.
Buyers don’t be spooked, there’s some sweet news for you! This month inventory is the highest since LAST October at 1,296 homes, benefitting you with more choices and bargaining power and that’s no trick.
Additionally, over 50% of homes have seen price reductions, and some Portland neighborhoods have seen slight decreases overall. Demand still surpasses supply, maintaining the status quo of a seller’s market.
But, while buyers initially face seller’s market conditions, negotiations often favor buyers as we get to the elephant skeleton in the room. Interest rates are around 8% limiting competition and real estate price growth in many areas.
With increased inventory and longer time on the market, buyers have an edge in negotiations. As winter approaches, savvy buyers could, with the right real estate agent, benefit from the sellers’ reluctance in a potentially declining winter-season buyer pool.
Sellers! September data brightened Portland Metro’s 8-month declining price trend, with a 6-year September year-over-year growth, increasing the average sales price by almost 1% over September 2022. This validates last year’s crystal ball pontificators with prices “plateauing”, not dropping.
Case in point- the current Median list price for a home in Portland is around $695,000. To put this in perspective, the PEAK Median list price during the highly competitive Market of 2021 was nearly $12,000 LESS at around $683,000.
The suburbs continue to experience modest growth. Lake Oswego & West Linn had a robust summer, while Vancouver maintained slow but steady growth over the past year.
No matter what, real estate continues to move throughout the year with different strategies and paths to help achieve your goals.
Living Room Realty is committed to connecting you with as much information to help you make an informed decision. If you’re ready to make a move, give us a call today. We’d love to help you find YOUR next living room.