Dear Claire: We’re in the 4th Quarter of the Year – What’s the Portland Metro Market Like?

Market Insights and Neighborhood Data: An Update for 2019

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) publishes a market report every month. I like to just check in with all of you to let you know how the market’s going.

Obviously, since we’re now into the fourth quarter, we can somewhat predict what 2019 is all about. So obviously 2019 had a bit less activity than 2018, as you probably all can imagine because you’ve seen all the signs up and that they’re staying up a little bit longer.

So pending sales are up half of a percent year-over-year. And new listings are down one and a half percent and closed sales are down 1.8%. What does that mean to you? Not much is really what it means to you, it tells me that the market is holding stuff. We’re all in a very stable market and it’s just kind of business as usual.

The big thing that I always like to look at a glance, is how much inventory Portland Metro actually has. In 2017, our inventory was 2.1, and October in 2018, it was 2.7, and in 2019 – it was 2.4. So let me explain what that means. They’re counting inventory in the number of months. What that means is if we never listed another house, it would take 2.4 months to sell out of all the inventory that exists right now on the market. It shows the rate of change.

Historically, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) keeps these statistics pretty accurate, and what they found is that six months of inventory is a neutral market. So, right now we’re actually still in a seller’s market. Buyers are actually a little bit more nervous than they have been because things aren’t flying off the market and it makes them nervous because they’re like, “No, no. I’m making a terrible mistake buying this house right now.”

Then the other part about this market report, which is kind of cool is that it shows you specific neighborhoods and how they are faring, compared to themselves. So just make sure to check it out if you’re interested. You can contact me at [email protected] for a copy. It’s a great tool to try to get a real idea. Because most people judge the market by, “There are too many signs,” or, “That sign stayed up on my street for longer than I thought” is not a statistically accurate way of measuring the housing market.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please let me know if you have any topics that you’d like me to cover as we’re actually planning our videos for next year so I would love to hear from you. And please also remember to subscribe to our Paris Group Realty, LLC YouTube channel for easy access to lots of information and videos. I hope you have a wonderful day and we will talk to you soon. Take care.

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