October 2017 real estate activity numbers are in for the Portland Metro Area. Inventory has been creeping up the past few months. We currently sit at 2.1 months. This marks the fourth month in a row where inventory sat at or over 2.0 months. Basically, if not one single additional property went on the market, it would take 2.1 months to deplete the current inventory. As a reminder, a well-balanced market contains about six months of inventory. The last time the Portland market had anything close to 6 months of inventory was back about February 2012.
October continued the cooling trend we have been monitoring. There were 2,981 new listings to the market throughout the metro area, while 2,705 listings went pending and 2,565 listings sold.
By the month’s end, there were 5,415 active listings to choose among in the metro area. Total days on the market increased to 44 days. There are still a number of “hot” neighborhoods where listings that are dialed in (think: curb appeal, clean, neat and/or staged) sold lightning fast, but many sellers are being counseled to anticipate longer times on market this time of the year. That said, we remain a strong seller’s market with plenty of willing buyers, lots of creative and favorable lending products, and not enough inventory to satisfy need. For those who are paying attention, the average sales price for the metro area is currently $429,400, compared to $393,900 in October of last year (up 9.0%). Median house price for the metro area is $379,900, up 10.1% from $345,000 last year.
