Portland, Oregon Real Estate Market, April 2024 Report
Portland home buyer traffic is steadily increasing while home inventory has stabilized (yet showing signs of increasing in the near future) and consequently, home prices are climbing higher and setting the market up for an active spring season. Sellers will benefit from increasing buyer competition over the coming months, and home buyers should act fast before prices reach their peak toward the end of the season.
Of course, looming in everyone’s mind is the recent NAR settlement, and how that might affect this year’s real estate market. It is important to note that nothing is expected to change (and I have seen no changes yet) until the actual rules change in July 2024. Stay tuned to our website for more information. Right now everyone is waiting for the settlement to get approved by the court, until that happens, things will remain uncertain.
Read on to learn more about the factors that are shaping current market conditions in Portland.
Portland Home Buyer Traffic is Increasing
We’ve watched the housing market gain traction in terms of buyer traffic since January, with the current number of active home buyers increasing by nearly 2,000 since our report last month. Every Spring our local housing market is reinvigorated with a fresh wave of buyers searching for new homes, making it the most beneficial season for sellers. We anticipate the number of active buyers will continue to increase on its current trajectory (displayed on the graph from RMLS below) through the Spring season. Notice that the buyer traffic this March is a tiny bit higher than March 2023.
Home buyer activity reveals the state of the real estate market, and we can effectively “take the temperature” of our real estate market using buyer traffic numbers. We created the chart below to illustrate how these numbers translate to the status of the housing market. In February, the level of traffic raised the market to lukewarm status, and numbers are within the same range in March as the market continues to warm up. As we move further into the Spring season, the number of active home buyers should continue to increase.
| Oregon weekly home buyer traffic | Hot or Cold Market? |
| 0 – 5,000 | Frozen |
| 5,000 – 10,000 | Cold |
| 10,000 – 15,000 | Cool |
| 15,000 – 20,000 | Lukewarm |
| 20,000 – 25,000 | Warm |
| 25,000 + | Hot |
Portland Real Estate Inventory is Stabilizing
The overall inventory of available homes in Portland has been decreasing since December and has now stabilized. As shown on the Fidelity chart below, this is the usual pattern at the beginning of Spring for our local housing market, when motivated sellers begin listing their homes and inventory starts to increase. Inventory is currently still low, moving the market to warm status in terms of home availability, which we have illustrated on the chart underneath. We should see a more rapid increase in inventory over the coming months as more new homes enter the market.
| Portland inventory ranking | Hot or Cold Market? |
| 0 – 500 | On Fire (notice April of 2022) |
| 500 – 750 | Hot |
| 750 – 1,000 | Warm (Currently) |
| 1,000 – 1,250 | Lukewarm |
| 1,250 – 1,500 | Cool |
| 1,500 – 1,750 | Cold |
| 1,750 – 2,000 + | Frozen (last Oct. – Dec.) |
Spring is always the best season to sell a home in the Portland area due to the combined factors of increased buyer traffic and low home supply. With the still-low number of available homes and steadily increasing number of active home buyers, this is the ideal moment for sellers to list their homes on the market to take advantage of buyer competition and secure the best sale price.
The Number of Homes with Price Drops Continues to Decrease
The percentage of homes on the market that have had to decrease in price this month has dropped to just under 33% since our February report (35%). Each year the Spring season brings increasing buyer competition for a limited number of homes that keeps prices high for sellers. The number of homes with price drops has been steadily declining since December and we anticipate the trend to continue through the months of April or May when this year’s seller’s market begins to wind down.
Average Prices are Climbing
Home prices (represented by price per square foot) have been increasing since the beginning of the year and have nearly matched average prices in March of 2022, as you can see on the chart above. The current market conditions of an increasing number of buyers competing for a low supply of homes leads to higher prices, and we expect these factors to continue to drive prices upward throughout the Spring season.
New Listings and Pending Sales Rose in February
The number of new homes added to the market began increasing at the beginning of the year and continued to grow in February. Counter to the decrease we saw last year at this time, listings increased at a rate similar to that of February 2022 (though lower in number) as you can see on the above graph from RMLS. Because market behavior in Portland follows a seasonal pattern, we can anticipate that the number of new home listings will continue to rise throughout the Spring season.
Unlike in February 2023, we saw the number of pending sales in February experience an increase similar to that of 2022. Spring is typically the most productive season for our local real estate market when buyers are the most active, translating to an annual peak in sales. We should see the number of home sales continue to increase through the month of May.
High interest rates and inflation were contributing factors in last year’s overall cooler housing market in Portland and on a national level. For insight into how both will shape our current market conditions, read our 2024 forecast.
Conditions are Ideal for Sellers
We have over twenty years of experience analyzing and helping sellers navigate our local housing market, and right now is the best time of year to sell a home in Portland. The month of March is the ideal time to list a home, and if you are ready to put your home on the market we would encourage you to do so as soon as possible: conditions typically remain favorable for sellers through the month of May. The Spring season is always the most active for the Portland housing market and the high volume of motivated buyers leads to shorter turnarounds and ideal sale prices for sellers.
Advice for Home Buyers
Increasing buyer traffic means prospective home buyers may encounter competition for homes, but as new home inventory increases over the coming months, buyers will also have more options. It would be beneficial to find a deal before prices peak toward the end of Spring. We recommend using the home search platform PortlandHomesForSale.com, which offers a robust set of custom filters that allows you to refine your results, i.e. “biggest price drop in the last 7 days“, or to search for a home in a specific neighborhood.
Let Our Experience Work for You
Our decades of experience in the Portland, Oregon real estate market has earned our team a comprehensive knowledge of market trends and how they benefit buyers and sellers. Whether you are getting ready to buy or sell, our top 1% buyer’s or seller’s teams will provide you with top-notch customer service while charging a lower-than-average commission rate. Chat with the bot on this site or give us a call today at 503-714-1111. Let us be a part of your success story.
