Portland Region September Home Sales
Portland-area home buying slowed as it normally does in late summer but September's sales tally was the highest for that month in seven years, pushed up by robust condo sales and a jump in move-up activity. The region's overall median sale price changed little month-to-month but rose nearly 15 percent from a year earlier, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 3,149 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during September in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area. Sales fell 16.3 percent from the prior month and rose 17.1 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
On average, sales have fallen 10.8 percent between August and September since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Portland-area statistics begin.
Although September's sales tally was the highest for that month since 2006, it was 11.9 percent short of the average sales total for all months of September since 1994. Sales of existing (not new) single-family detached houses and condos combined were 5.0 percent below the historical September average, while new-home sales were 45.7 percent below average.
The number of homes that sold for less than $100,000 in September fell 36.2 percent year-over-year, while sub-$200,000 deals declined 22.6 percent. However, sales between $200,000 and $600,000 (a typical move-up range) jumped 44.5 percent from a year ago, while sales over $500,000 rose 70.0 percent. Viewed another way, this September's sales over $200,000 made up 74.2 percent of all transactions, compared with 60.2 percent in September 2012.
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 September was $260,000, down 1.4 percent from the prior month and up 14.9 percent from a year earlier. The highest median so far this year came in July, at $263,700, which was the highest median for any month since October 2008, when it was $269,900. The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 19 consecutive months.
The September median sale price was 10.0 percent lower than the peak $289,000 median in October 2007, and it was 33.3 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $195,000 in January 2012.
Sales of distressed properties – the combination of foreclosure resales and short sales – accounted for roughly 15 percent of the Portland area's resale market in September, down from about 16 percent the prior month and down from around 30 percent a year earlier.
To view the two September Highlight charts, visit the article at DQNews.com.
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