August Portland Real Estate Market Update

Residential Highlights
Market activity in the Portland metro area appears to have slowed in August, compared to the same period a year ago.
Comparing August this year with that of August 2007, new listings dropped 27.1%. Closed sales were off last year’s pace by 30.7%, while pending sales also fell 22%.

In a month-to-month comparison (July v. August 2008), new listings dropped 16% (4,398 v. 5,237). Closed sales were down 3.3% (1,770 v. 1,831) and pending sales decreased 4.7% (1,908 v. 2,003).

At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,556 active residential properties would last approximately 9.9 months. This is down slightly from last month (10 months).

Year-to-Date
Comparing January-August 2008 with the same time in 2007, new listings decreased 5%. Pending sales and closed sales fell 30.8% and 33.9%, respectively.

Sale Prices
The average sale price for August 2008 was down 6.7% compared to August 2007, while the median sale price dropped 7.3%.
Month-to-month, the average sale price and median sale price are both down when compared with July’s levels; the average sale price dropped 2.7% ($331,300 v. $340,500) and the median sale price was down 2.8% ($280,000 v. $288,200).
Source: RMLS Market