Spring Portland Real Estate Market – 2018

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The winds of change are blowing through the spring Portland 2018 real estate market. Read on for the latest data on sales, inventory, and the overall state of housing in the city, to help you make the best decision for your home investment.

Portland RMLS Report

  • The April 2018 market data is hot off the presses so we will start here.
  • There were more closed sales in Portland in April than in April of 2017. Last April closed 2,219 Portland homes; this April 2,523 homes were sold and closed on. This is in part due to more available inventory this year for Portland buyers to choose from.
  • This month also saw gains in new real estate listings in the Portland metro area. From March 2018, they came up 9.4%. This is in part seasonal gains from March to April, but also represents more listings available in April of 2018 than there were in April of 2017.
  • Although total market time decreased to 42 days this month (again, due to normal real estate market seasonal changes) inventory inched up, to 1.8 months.
  • In all, there were 4,469 active residential listings in the Portland metro area this April.
  • The above represents a healthy but cooling Portland real estate market. In general there is an increase of inventory and a decrease of available buyers.

Portland Metro Area Real Estate – What is it?

“Portland Metro Area” is a term that gets thrown around a lot in real estate circles, but if you’re new to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon, it might not be immediately obvious what the local residential Multiple Listing Services considers “Portland Metro”.

To state it briefly, the Portland Metro Area comprises not just the City of Portland itself but also surrounding suburbs and even distinct municipalities like Beaverton and Hillsboro.

There are three counties totally contained by the Portland RMLS system: Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah. Parts of Yamhill and Marion counties are also in the system.

When you search for a Portland home on a website like Realtor.com, Zillow, or Portlandrealestatemapsearch.com (the one we recommend), you typically have the option of searching by address, zip code, school district, or something called “area”. That last category refers to RMLS “areas” that lump together communities regardless of city and county lines. So, we can talk about the city of Forest Grove, or RMLS area 152 which includes Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and outlying areas.

Fortunately, the average home buyer or seller in Portland doesn’t need to be familiar with the RMLS codes — that’s what Portland real estate agents are for. However, if you want to use this tool in your home search, it can be extremely useful. In Portlandrealestatemapsearch.com, the area is listed to the right side, with all the other basic home information. You can click on the link to see other homes in that area, which may be useful in expanding your search.

Is Spring a good time to buy or sell a home in Portland?

Spring is a best time to list your Portland home, see our month to month breakdown of the best time of year to sell in Portland. But the “spring” real estate season is short in Portland, and while there will be even more buyers in the market in June, inventory will increase at an even faster rate.

If you’re a home buyer, and this is the time that you need to find a home in Portland, our top 1% buyers’ team can certainly help you do it. Also, starting in June inventory will loosen up a bit, making it easier to find a home.

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