Portland Region January Home Sales
Portland-area homes sold at the fastest pace for a January in seven years amid robust investor purchases and sales gains for mid- to high-end houses as well as resale condos. The median sale price rose year-over-year for the 23rd consecutive month, though the 8.5 percent annual increase was the smallest in more than a year, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 2,045 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during January in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area. Sales fell 23.2 percent from the prior month and rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
A sharp sales drop between December and January is normal for the season. On average, sales between those two months have fallen 18.7 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Portland-area statistics begin.
Although January's sales tally was the highest for that month since 2007, it was 16.2 percent short of the average sales total for all months of January since 1994. Sales of existing (not new) single-family detached houses were 15.2 percent below the historical January average, while new-home sales were 37.7 percent below average. January's condo resales, which rose 14.7 percent from a year earlier, were 48.1 percent above the January average.
Investors continued to play a significant role in the Portland-area market. Absentee buyers - mostly investors and some second-home buyers - purchased 29.4 percent of all homes sold in January, up from 28.8 percent the prior month and 28.3 percent a year earlier. The monthly average for absentee purchases since January 2000 is 19.7 percent.
Sales of mid- to high-end homes continued to rise year-over-year, while lower-cost deals declined. January sales below $200,000 dropped 37.7 percent from a year earlier, while sales below $300,000 fell 22.7 percent. January home sales above $300,000 rose 25.4 percent year-over-year, while sales over $500,000 rose 35.8 percent.
The Portland metro area statistics in this report and in the tables below reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in the Portland region during January was $250,000, down 0.8 percent from the month before and up 8.5 percent from a year earlier. Because of seasonal factors it is normal for the median sale price to dip between December and January. The median's 8.5 percent year-over-year increase was the lowest for any month since the median rose 5.3 percent in November 2012.
January's $250,000 median was the lowest since it was $245,000 last April. The highest median over the past year was $263,700 last July, which was also the highest median for any month since October 2008, when it was $269,900.
This January's median sale price was 13.5 percent below the peak $289,000 median in October 2007, and it was 28.2 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $195,000 in January 2012. During the last housing bust the Portland area's median fell 32.5 percent from peak to trough.
To view additional Portland region January highlights, visit DQNews.com.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com
Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.
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