Portland Real Estate Market is Cooling – August 2018

According to an August MLS report, July 2018 will do down as the slowest home selling month in the Portland real estate market since 2015, according to the RMLS “inventory by months” statistic. We’ve been reporting on this for quite a while now, but it is true – the Portland real estate market is cooling, and it started last year, 2017, and has accelerated in 2018. Only in the last few months have major news outlets picked up on the market downturn.

Portland Housing Market 2019 Forecast

We’ve already put out our early 2019 Portland real estate market forecast, and we are looking at a 2% increase overall next year. This means many market segments like condos and luxury homes will likely decrease significantly in price in 2019 and have already done so in 2018. The homes that do increase in price next year will be those most affordable – as affordability is the number one reason for the Portland housing market slowdown (not the local economy as a whole).

Home prices have risen too fast and for too long. In Portland prices started climbing metro-wide in 2012 and so we’ve had more than five continuous years of strong appreciation.

Seasonal Real Estate Market Trends are Real

August is always one of the toughest months of the year to sell, regardless of what the overall housing market is up to. August represents an inventory high point for the year as folks who have not managed to sell in the spring and summer are still hanging on – and many home buyers have already purchased that were planning to do so this summer. So while August tends to hurt home sellers pockets (price drops are rampant) this 2018 August is still going to be worse than any year prior unless you’re looking back to 2015 or before.

My Portland Home is Not Selling

We devoted a whole article to this topic, what to do when you’re home is the one that is not selling.

The 2018 Portland Housing Market – Moving Forward

Inventory will slowly drop starting early September and will significantly drop by late Sept. early Oct. For those homeowners who still need to sell in 2018 – this can be great news. If you can hang on until this massive amount of Portland housing inventory drops, late Sept. through early November is actually a pretty decent time to sell. Sure, there are less buyers, but there is so much less inventory it is much easier to sell then than in August. Of course, for Portland home sellers, you do need to sell before the holidays roll around, as that is the toughest time of the year to sell period. Yes, inventory drops over the holidays, but home buyers are practically non-existent. That being said, homes sell all year round and we are selling plenty of homes in August, but there are true and powerful seasonal trends to be aware of whether you are a Portland home buyer or seller.

Picking the Right Real Estate Agent

This is more important than ever. When your local real estate market is undergoing significant changes, its best to work with an experienced agent with their finger on the housing market’s pulse. Our team has decades of experience and we worked right through the last recession and are prepared for the upcoming and ongoing housing correction (we do not see a recession coming). If you are thinking of buying a home in Portland but worried about the market changes, there are still plenty of reasons to buy now.