Portland Short Sale & Foreclosure News

Buying Portland Short Sales and Foreclosures

If you’re looking to purchase a distressed Portland property, we highly recommend our top 1% buyer’s agent, Kami Price, who has obtained the short sales and foreclosure resource certification and has extensive experience helping buyers purchased bank owned and short sale properties.

Need to short sell your home?

If you’re looking to avoid foreclosure and need help short selling your home, look no further. Stephen FitzMaurice is a top 1% seller’s agent in Portland, is a short sale certified agent, and does not charge the homeowner for his short sale services. He has a very high success rate and can explain the ups and downs of the short sale process. Click here for his short sale services.

Portland Area Foreclosure and Short Sale News

Below are articles written by our top agents on foreclosure and short sale happenings in the Portland metro area.

Portland Short Sale Market Report – Back in 2021?

November 16, 2020

Short sales were almost non-existent in the Portland real estate market in 2020, representing a fraction of 1% of real estate transactions in the city. However, many expect short sales to rise in 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, and the end of mortgage relief programs that were passed in early 2020. Homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage should choose a short sale over a foreclosure in most cases, protecting themselves by enlisting the help of a Short Sale Certified real estate agent.  Before we get into the differences between short sales and foreclosures, we’ll go over some short sale basics and look at the current market for short sales. For more information on our...

Portland Real Estate Foreclosure Rate – 2020 Report

July 10, 2020

Over the past five years, the foreclosure rate in the Portland real estate market has been dropping, from close to 4% of total sales in 2015 to just under 1% this year. Even though the total number of foreclosures in Portland has gone down, we’re not back to zero foreclosures, which was the case prior to 2008. Last year, homebuyers successfully closed on just over 100 foreclosure deals (according to RMLS, our local MLS system) and 47 foreclosures have closed already in 2020. But the COVID-19 pandemic prompted lawmakers this spring to prohibit banks from pursuing new foreclosures until at least October. What will this mean for the Portland real estate foreclosure market? We can take a look back to...

Portland Foreclosures and Short Sales Cut in Half

August 8, 2016

Foreclosures are all but disappearing from the Portland housing market as home values continue to rise. In fact, the percentage of homes on the Portland real estate market that are up for foreclosure or already owned by the bank has fallen in half over the past two years! According to new data from the RMLS, bank owned or short sale homes represented just 3.3% of all new Portland area listings in the second quarter of 2016. In the same time period in 2014, that figure was nearly 7%. Here’s a closer look at the numbers from the RMLS. The first number is the data from the first quarter of 2016, followed by the comparable 2014 figures in parenthesis. For the...

Portland Foreclosures are Down, But Not Out

July 6, 2015

“Underwater” sounds like a nice place to be during this Portland heat wave, but if you’re a mortgage holder, that word is enough to give you the shivers on even the hottest day. Fortunately, the latest data from RealtyTrac shows that foreclosures are down. In May 2105, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Portland was 42% lower than the previous month and 11% lower than the same time last year. The Portland foreclosure rate has a cause-and-effect relationship with home values, the economy overall, and the rate of short sales. As home values go up, home owners are floated above water — the value of their mortgage is no longer higher than the value of their...

Certified Portland Short Sale Agent

March 30, 2015

The Portland real estate market has been doing great lately. It’s a seller’s market – prices are up, inventory is down. But some Portland homeowners are still not joining the party, even though they’d love to sell. That’s because about 10% of them are underwater on their mortgages. Going underwater on a mortgage, or owing more on the mortgage than the home is worth on the current market, is becoming less common, but it still happens. A recent Zillow report found that for the over 45,000 underwater homeowners in the Portland metro area, the rising tide that lifts all boats hasn’t yet lifted theirs. Luckily, if you’re one of these 45,000, the improving market does mean that it’s a good...

Portland Market Short Sales and Foreclosures 2015 Update

February 3, 2015

Portland Foreclosures: So five years ago? Not quite. Since the housing bubble burst in 2009, and hundreds of homes went into foreclosure, Portland home buyers and sellers have adapted to a market composed of about 10% bank-owned homes and short sales. While the number of foreclosures has definitely lessened since the burst of the bubble, there are still quite a few entering the market every month. Oregon-wide, foreclosures actually increased in 2014, according to recent reports by RealtyTrac and the RMLS. RMLS (Regional Multiple Listing Service) tells the story for Portland. They reported that in the 4th quarter of 2014, 12% of new Portland listings were either bank-owned or short sales. Compared to the same period in 2013, that’s an...

Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act Has an Uncertain Future

January 7, 2015

A few good things came out of the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007/08. It drew attention to irresponsible banking practices, launched the tiny house movement in Portland and across the nation, and prompted congress to step up for those who were about to lose their homes. The Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act was part of congress’ attempt to help homeowners in distress. What did this piece of legislation do? In a nutshell, it eliminated extra taxes placed on homeowners who sold their home through a short sale. It was intended to help the housing market get back on its feet by making it easier for people to sell their homes even if they were underwater on their mortgage. And...

Foreclosures and Short Sales in Portland: Dropping Fast

July 30, 2013

Home shoppers intent on snagging a deal on a short sale or foreclosed property in the Portland area had better act fast. Recent reports indicate that the number of new listings coming on the market is shrinking, while low inventory and rising home prices indicate that the supply of distressed properties won’t last forever. Quick refresher: A short sale is a way for the home owner to avoid foreclosure by selling the home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. An REO property is one that has already been foreclosed upon and is owned by a bank or lender. Here are three reasons that it won’t pay to wait when it comes to nailing a deal on a...

Be Aware of Real Estate Scams in Portland

July 17, 2013

You’re behind on your mortgage payments and the bank is threatening to foreclose. Then you receive an offer from someone claiming to be from a credit agency. They say they can sell your home, saving your credit and your peace of mind. Can you believe them? Of course not. Unfortunately, that call is not so easy to make when you’re the person with the huge mortgage and the tempting offer on your plate. This kind of enticement has sent homeowners in Portland and across the country into their worst fraud nightmares, costing them money, ruining their credit and deflating home values across neighborhoods. With underwater mortgages and financial troubles for homeowners in every income bracket, scam artists have come up...

Has Fannie Mae Solved the Short Sale Maze?

June 16, 2013

As many in Portland have already experienced, buying or selling a home through the short sale process can be a bit of a maze. Although short sales are an invaluable tool for underwater home owners, many offers fall through because one or more parties can’t agree to terms in the agreement. For home owners, the short sale process begins when the lender agrees to sell the home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. Then the home seller can work with their short sale real estate agent to list the home and find a potential buyer. From there, sellers’ and buyers’ agents negotiate with the various lending institutions, lien holders and other parties. If the maze is negotiated...