Bethany, a Real Estate Hot Spot in Portland

One of the Portland real estate market’s hotspots for new development in the Portland area, and a lovely rural area of Washington County to boot, Bethany has plenty to offer home buyers.

Let’s start with the basics.

Highly rated schools: Bethany is served by Beaverton School District. It has four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. There is also a campus of Portland Community College in Bethany.
Small community: At just 21,000 residents, Bethany is one of the smaller communities at the outskirts of Portland, but with a whole slate of new development on its way, it is building the amenities of a much larger town.
Low crime: Both property and violent crime rates are lower than Portland and national levels.
Access to the outdoors: Nestled in the rolling hills between Portland, the Columbia River and the Coast, Bethany has it all. There are over a half-dozen parks in the community, plus a golf course nearby.
Convenient to Portland: It’s just a 25-minute drive to downtown via the Sunset Highway (traffic depending).
Affordable real estate: New homes in North Bethany start at just over $300,000, and older homes, townhomes and condos are available in this real estate market at nearly every price range.

That’s the snapshot of Bethany as it exists today — with major new developments planned, plus steady sources of employment from Intel and Nike campuses, this place is poised to grow.

According to Metro, North Bethany was added to Portland via an expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary in 2002. It is a 691-acre area projected for development of 4,000 homes, housing 10,000 residents.

In a 2016 article on new development in the Portland area, Metro staff writers note,
“A look a Google Maps satellite image reveals just how quickly construction [in Bethany] is proceeding – ghostly tracks of new streets cross what still look like farm fields in some areas, while other areas show up as either active construction sites or sudden neighborhoods seemingly dropped from the sky.”

Since 2014, they add, about 800 single-family houses and 370 apartments or condos have been permitted in the North Bethany area. The largest among these new home developments so far is Bethany Creek Falls, which, according to developers, features single-family detached homes “thoughtfully designed for family living feature spacious, contemporary interiors with comfortable rooms for casual gatherings and informal entertaining”. Around 290 of the 800 permitted homes have been built in this development.

The Bethany real estate market may hold some fantastic real estate investment opportunities, whether you’re buying your first, second or third home — but be careful. New home developments are crawling with employees that work for the developers! They may seem happy to help you, but remember that they work for the company that has built the homes and is now seeking to make a profit off those homes. Recommend finding and securing your own Portland buyer’s agent.

My top real estate agent tip for venturing into North Bethany to look at new homes is, bring your real estate agent! Bringing your own buyers agent representation is the most important thing you can do to ensure you’re not paying too much. Click here to read more of our tips on buying a new home.