Portland Real Estate Market 2016 Full Review

According to RMLS, which released its final report of the year, 2016 was a bit of a mixed bag for the Portland real estate market compared to 2015, acknowledging that both years are at the high water mark for the Portland real estate market in general.

The year 2015 was a banner year for Portland real estate. In the Portland metro area there were 33,000 closed sales, a 20% increase over 2014 according to the RMLS. The RMLS data shows that closed sales actually went down in 2016, a small 1.5% drop. The median home price in 2015 for Portland was $308,000 and went up to $354,500 in 2016, a 11.4% increase.

Homes sold faster in 2016, the average number of days on market was 42 verse 54 in 2015. Let me pause for a moment and repeat that fact. The average home took 42 days to sell. Now in these last few good years in the Portland real estate market, we have managed to sell at, above, or close to 50% of our home in their first weekend on market in a multiple offer situation. The vast majority of our homes we sold in less than 30 days on market. It is however, not true, that every home in Portland sells in a day or two. In certain hot Portland neighborhoods, it may be true, but for outlying suburbs and the far out stretches of Portland proper, it is simply not true. Homes sell fast, but not always in two to three days.

In 2015, inventory hit rock-bottom at 1.2 months, a number not seen since 1999! Inventory barely budged in month-to-month comparisons from last year — the lowest was March at 1.3 months and December at 1.3 months in 2016.

2016 for the most part, was simply more of the same of what we experienced in 2015, not a drastic change from 2015, low inventory continuing to be the major cause of increasing prices and quick home sales.

Will inventory continue to be a problem in the Portland market? In short, yes.
New home construction actually went down in 2016.

What was the best time of the year to sell in 2016?
Hint, it will also likely be the best time of the year to sell in 2017.

Need to know what is going to happen next? Read our in-depth 2017 Portland real estate market forecast here.

If you need help in 2017, the number one listing team in both sales and volume in the greater Portland metro area in 2016 is ready to serve you! We would love to help you with your real estate plans. Contact us today.