Best Month to Sell a Home in Portland in 2021

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Every year I write an article on the best time to sell a home in Portland and a separate article on the best time to buy a home in Portland. (All of those articles are collected here.) And every year (except for 2020) a reader will notice that the Portland real estate market follows near-identical seasonal trends (with some variance each year) meaning in our metro there is an overall good season to sell a home and a different overall good season to buy a home. The best overall season each year to sell a home in Portland runs from mid-Jan. to early June. The best overall season to buy a home in Portland runs from late July through the end of September. The three primary real estate market forces in each case are available housing inventory, buyer demand, and local weather. Also if you are considering when the best time to sell a home in the Portland area is, you’ll probably also want to take a look at our very recent Portland real estate market forecast for 2021 that includes a breakdown forecast of each type of home in the city, entry-level to luxury.

Best time to sell a home in Portland, month by month breakdown:

Sell in January 2021

We always recommend our clients skip listing their home the first week of January. The public simply needs time to recover from their holiday events. Every year the first week in January has abysmal buyer traffic (we get weekly local reports), but by the second week of January that buyer traffic rocket ships up. There is a New Year effect on home buying in Portland. It makes people think of new plans, and new plans often means a new home. They start shopping and before they thought they would – they fall in love with a new home. January often competes with December for the lowest inventory of the year, so homes listed in this month sell fast.

The only potential negative to selling in January is the occasional snowstorm or unbearable weather knocking down what would normally be a good amount of home buyer traffic.

January Real Estate Market Forces

  • Lowest inventory
  • Medium buyer traffic
  • Potential bad weather
  • Home prices are slowly increasing
  • Skip the first week
  • Overall – easy to sell a home in Jan.

Sell in February 2021

Buyer traffic has increased from January but would still be considered medium in comparison to the rest of the year. Inventory remains incredibly low. Weather can still be a factor at times, but generally will be okay for the purposes of getting a home sold. Home sellers may have also received the benefit of some price increases from January’s market.

February Real Estate Market Forces

  • Low inventory
  • Medium buyer traffic
  • Potential bad weather
  • Home prices are slowly increasing
  • Overall – easy to sell a home in Feb.

Sell in March 2021

Buyer traffic has increased and is now considered high. Prices have increased from January. Weather had improved. Inventory is still low. March will be the best month of the year to sell a home, or April – one or the other.

March Real Estate Market Forces

  • Low inventory
  • High buyer traffic
  • Decent weather
  • Home prices have significantly increased
  • Overall – could be best month to sell a home in Portland in 2021

Sell in April 2021

Buyer traffic has contined to increase from March and is high. Prices have continued to increase. Weather is now fantastic. Inventory is still low, but is now starting to increase. April or March will be the best month overall to sell a home in 2021.

April Real Estate Market Forces

  • Low inventory, now starting to increase
  • High buyer traffic
  • Fantastic weather
  • Home prices still gaining
  • Overall – could be the best month to sell in Portland in 2021

Sell in May 2021

The big overall season to sell a home in Portland is mid-Jan through early June, but May represents the last month of the best three – March, April, and May. Inventory has climbed from April and is now medium, but buyer traffic has also continued to climb and is near its peak. The weather is incredible and gardens are blooming. Only the increased inventory keeps May from being the first or second best month to sell – it is often the 3rd.

May Real Estate Market Forces

  • Medium inventory, steadily increasing
  • High buyer traffic
  • Incredible weather with blooming gardens
  • Home prices still gaining
  • Overall May is a near best time to sell a home

Sell in June 2021

Typically we advise clients if they can pick any time of the year to sell their home, to sell before June. But June does have one advantage – home prices are still increasing. Most of the home price increases for the year in Portland happens from Jan. – June in a typical year. Inventory is the main concern for selling in June. Since the Portland real estate market started out the year with historically low inventory, it is possible inventory will not be quite as high in June as it normally is. But the fact that inventory will climb and be climbing is a near seasonal promise. The fact that inventory in June will be higher than in previous months is a near certainty.

June Real Estate Market Forces

  • Medium – high inventory, steadily increasing
  • High buyer traffic
  • Wonderful weather
  • Home prices still gaining
  • Overall June is a fine time to sell a home in Portland

Sell in July 2021

Inventory has continued to increase and can now be considered high. Buyer traffic has actually started to decrease or at least has leveled off. Many motivated home buyers have already purchased in advance of the next school season. Weather can often be too hot slowing traffic down. Even if we continue to see historically low inventory in 2021, July will not be the best time to sell. Inventory will be higher than in previous months, there will be fewer home buyers, and the weather won’t be as good.

July Real Estate Market Forces

  • High inventory
  • High buyer traffic, but starting to decrease
  • Good and bad weather, can have heat streaks
  • Home prices leveling off
  • Overall July is not the best time to sell a home in Portland, but as long as you keep the price reasonable, you can still expect to sell.

Sell in August 2021

August or September typically have the highest inventory of the year. You have sellers who procrastinated and are trying to get their home on the real estate market before summer’s end. You have sellers who spent the entire summer fixing up their property for market. You also have collected over the spring and summer all of those home sellers that priced their homes too high for the market and are still trying to sell, they haven’t given up yet. Buyer traffic is now medium and is continuing to decrease. Weather can be good or bad, with occasional heat streaks. Home buyers taking off for last-minute summer vacations doesn’t help either. Every year (minus the ever-strange 2020) home prices decrease in August.

August Real Estate Market Forces

  • High inventory, occasionally the highest
  • Medium buyer traffic
  • Good and bad weather, can have heat streaks
  • Home prices are declining
  • Overall we don’t recommend starting a listing in August, but if that is when you need to sell, as long as you price the home competitively – there are enough buyers around to purchase it.

Sell in September 2021

School is in session! That is what I’m sure all Portland parents are going to be excited about in fall of 2021. Every year historically in the Portland real estate market there is a slump in sales around the first two weeks of school starting. In addition to the school factor, September often has the highest inventory of the year and this is typically due to all the home sellers that listed in spring or summer and are still hanging on. Buyer traffic is now medium. Prices have stabilized or are still declining. Weather is nothing to get excited about, but isn’t bad.

September Real Estate Market Forces

  • High inventory, occasionally the highest
  • Medium buyer traffic
  • Decent weather
  • Home prices are stable or still declining from August
  • Overall we don’t recommend starting a listing in September, but again, if the home is priced competitively there are still enough buyers to expect that home to be purchased in a reasonable time frame.

Sell in October 2021

October typically is an improvement over September. Inventory is no longer at is peak as many home sellers that initially listed in the spring or summer have finally given up, and home buyers are still around at a medium level. Weather typically isn’t bad. October is your last decent month of the year to sell a home. Often if a home seller misses the spring or summer season, we recommend they list in late Sept. or early Oct. to catch the best of the fall season.

October Real Estate Market Forces

  • Medium inventory
  • Medium buyer traffic
  • Prices have stabilized or starting to climb again (slowly)
  • Decent weather
  • Overall October is a fine time to sell a home in Portland.

Sell in November 2021

The first part of November is a fine time to sell a home in Portland. Inventory and buyer traffic are both at reasonable levels. Weather is typically still decent. The problem with November is the big drop in home buyer traffic around the major Thanksgiving holiday. If you list your home in November, best to list it early and sell fast – sell before the big holidays come around.

November Real Estate Market Forces

  • Medium inventory
  • Medium buyer traffic first half, low buyer traffic second half
  • Prices are stable or slowly crawling up
  • Decent weather
  • Overall November is a fine time to sell a home in Portland if you start early and sell before the holidays.

Sell in December 2021

December is defined by the Christmas season. Inventory is low in December which helps to some degree. The first two weeks of December we see a decent number of sales, but then home buyer traffic plummets to the lowest of the entire year and stays there through the first week of January.

December Real Estate Market Forces

  • Low inventory
  • Low buyer traffic
  • Decent level of sales first half of the month, almost none the second half
  • Prices are stable or slightly dropping
  • Weather is not good, dark and rainy
  • Overall December is a month you can skip selling your home as by mid-January it is a good time to sell a home again. But if you need to sell in December it is still possible, though you may need to go a little under market value to see it done.

Sell a Home with the Best

No matter when you’re looking to sell your home in the greater Portland metro area, we can guide you through the right strategy to get your home sold for a great price. We charge a max. of 4.25% commission total, have a dramatically increased marketing program to ensure our homes get sold, and top it off with a customer-friendly cancel anytime policy. I hope you’ll give us a chance to show you what we can do for you.

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What My Clients Are Saying

Stephen was just simply a fantastic realtor to work with in selling our home. If we had another 50 properties to sell, Stephen would be in charge of all of them. He was so professional in handling every detail of our sale, and he was so responsive to every question that came up in the course of our transaction. My wife and I are very thankful that we found Stephen.

Alan