Portland August 2007 Home Sales

October 3, 2007

The Portland region outshined many U.S. housing markets but wasn't immune from the August sales gloom: The number of homes sold dropped to its lowest level for an August in seven years, with declines steepest in some of the region's least expensive neighborhoods, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,165 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area (see included/excluded MSA counties below). That sales total fell 3.5 percent from 4,318 in July and dropped 20.8 percent below the 5,256 sales in August 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

The number of homes sold in August was the lowest for that month since 3,604 in August 2000. August marked the 18th consecutive month in which sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis.

The regional median price paid for all homes combined rose slightly to a record $288,858 in August, up a tad from $285,000 in July and up 6.6 percent from $271,000 a year ago.

August marked the ninth consecutive month in which the median has posted a single-digit year-over-year gain. Starting in August 2004, the Portland area's median price had risen at a double-digit annual pace for 26 months before slipping back into single-digit territory late last year.

The regionwide 6.6 percent annual gain in the August median price is in part the result of a phenomenon sweeping much of the West and nation: Compared with a year ago, sales tend to be dropping most in the most affordable neighborhoods. This means a greater portion of sales this year are in higher-cost areas, which would put upward pressure on the median price even in the absence of appreciation.

In Multnomah County, zip codes with a median price under $250,000 saw their combined July/August sales drop 25.3 percent from the same period in 2006. Zip codes with $450,000-plus medians saw their combined sales rise 13.8 percent from last year, according to an analysis of single-family house sales in zip codes with at least 25 transactions in July and August. Zip codes with a median over $450,000 accounted for 11.4 percent of total resales in the July/August period this year, up from 8.2 percent a year ago. Zip codes with below-$250,000 medians saw their portion of total sales drop from 42.9 last year to 39.4 percent this year.

Clackamas and Clark counties' medians fell 2.7 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, in August compared with one year earlier. For Clark County it was the third consecutive month in which the median declined on a year-over-year basis. The metro area's other three counties saw annual gains in their median. Multnomah County's $280,000 overall August median was 8.5 percent higher than a year ago but 1 percent lower than its record $282,900 median in July.

Another price gauge analysts follow, the median price paid per square foot for resale houses, suggests appreciation is throttling back more than the straight median indicates. The Portland region's median per square foot was $187 in August, up 3.3 percent from August 2006. The median per square foot peaked at $188 in June and July. The year-over-year gains have ratcheted down fairly consistently over the past 20 months, ever since hitting a peak of 22.5 percent in December 2005.

DataQuick's Portland area statistics reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA*
	# of sales			Median sale price
	Aug-06	Aug-07	%Chg	Aug-06	Aug-07	%Chg
Resale houses	3,896	3,014	-22.6%	$275,000	$295,000	7.3%
Resale condos	308	286	-7.1%	$185,000	$199,000	7.6%
New homes	1,052	865	-17.8%	$281,604	$290,000	3.0%
All homes	5,256	4,165	-20.8%	$271,000	$288,858	6.6%

*Data reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington. Data are not available for Columbia (OR) and Skamania (WA) counties, which are in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA.

 

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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